# How do you pronounce "often?" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 30, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866 "2010-04-30T14:33:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866/21 "2010-04-30T16:47:20Z")
“Off’n” here, though I’ve been known to pronounce the t at times. Not sure why or what occasions those are, but I know I’ve done it. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866/22 "2010-04-30T17:08:22Z")
Off-tin for more formal speech, or when used as a one word answer. Off-in when I’m more casual or speaking fast. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866/23 "2010-04-30T17:11:07Z")
OFF’n. Southern CA ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866/24 "2010-04-30T17:19:47Z")
Offen, Michigan. When I’m reading I often hear it as off-ten but I say it the other way. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866/25 "2010-04-30T17:24:42Z")
Offen. There’s a couple of American nuns who would get out of their graves to strangle me if I thought of pronouncing the T. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866/26 "2010-04-30T17:29:44Z")
“Off-ten” western Canada. ---
**Author:** ![abbeytxs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@abbeytxs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abbeytxs)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866/27 "2010-04-30T17:35:10Z")
No “t”, grew up in central Illinois. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866/28 "2010-04-30T17:48:47Z")
Off’n or offt’n - probably depending on some sort of conversational or subjective context, but I don’t know what. I do know I say it both ways. ---
**Author:** ![Creole\_Tomato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@Creole\_Tomato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creole_Tomato)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866/29 "2010-04-30T18:15:22Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > Off-tin for more formal speech, or when used as a one word answer. > Off-in when I’m more casual or speaking fast. Same here; I was born and raised in New Orleans. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866/30 "2010-04-30T18:19:52Z")
No ‘t,’ which sounds sort of pretentious to me. New Jersey-born and raised. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866/31 "2010-04-30T18:28:53Z")
The “t” is silent - and I am originally from Illinois, but as you can see from location, have moved around a bit. For those who do pronounce the “t” - do you also pronounce the “t” when saying the word “soften”? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866/32 "2010-04-30T18:34:12Z")
“T” for me. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866/33 "2010-04-30T18:41:06Z")
The “correct” (i.e., original) pronunciation is “offen.” For some reason, scribes added the “t” (possibly misreading “offen”) and people began to pronounce it the way it was misspelled. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866/34 "2010-04-30T18:54:10Z")
Off’n. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866/35 "2010-04-30T18:55:09Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The “correct” (i.e., original) pronunciation is “offen.” For some reason, scribes added the “t” (possibly misreading “offen”) and people began to pronounce it the way it was misspelled. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866/36 "2010-04-30T19:11:35Z")
with an E offen…Tennessee ---
**Author:** ![nofloyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nofloyd/32/2870_2.png) [@nofloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nofloyd)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866/37 "2010-04-30T19:12:12Z")
‘Offen’ Northern New Jersey. \Hearing the t drives me nuts. It ruins songs for me. Silent t, like listen, hasten, fasten. I suspect an elderly 3rd grade teacher drilled that into me. The t is spoken around here, maybe 50/50, and I grit my teeth.\ ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866/38 "2010-04-30T19:17:37Z")
Silent T - I spent my language formative years in Maryland - around Baltimore. The pronounced “t” makes me stabby. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866/39 "2010-04-30T19:42:42Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Cite? > **[Definition of OFTEN](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/often)** > > many times : frequently… See the full definition Main Entry: of·ten Pronunciation: \ˈȯ-fən, ÷ˈȯf-tən\ The “÷” sign means that it “occurs in educated speech but [..] is considered by some to be questionable or unacceptable”. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866/40 "2010-04-30T20:00:19Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The “correct” (i.e., original) pronunciation is “offen.” For some reason, scribes added the “t” (possibly misreading “offen”) and people began to pronounce it the way it was misspelled. I am absolutely sure that everyone who doesn’t pronounce the ‘t’ knows this, and that is the sole reason they don’t pronounce it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-often/537866.md?page=3)