# Often: OFF-TEN or OFF-EN? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 26, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907 "2011-10-26T21:38:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907/1 "2011-10-26T21:38:22Z")
How do you say it? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907/2 "2011-10-26T21:46:23Z")
Offen, and I suspect those who say “often” are hypercorrecting based on the spelling. ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907/3 "2011-10-26T22:00:32Z")
Offen. I know it’s not really correct, but “OFF-TEN” sounds a bit cumbersome to my ear. ---
**Author:** ![Soliloquy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Soliloquy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soliloquy)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907/4 "2011-10-26T22:07:56Z")
Off-ten. I’ve always pronounced the t. I know some people believe that it is pretentious to pronounce the t, but I don’t do it out of pretension. I just always thought the t was there for a reason. ---
**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:** [October 26, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907/5 "2011-10-26T22:12:16Z")
Both. In casual conversation, it usually comes out off-en. In more formal speech, I convert to off-ten. A single word response is usually off-ten. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907/6 "2011-10-26T22:12:52Z")
Offen ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907/7 "2011-10-26T22:15:22Z")
> [@Soliloquy](#): > > Off-ten. I’ve always pronounced the t. I know some people believe that it is pretentious to pronounce the t, but I don’t do it out of pretension. I just always thought the t was there for a reason. But then…do you pronounce the G in gnat, the K in knot, etc? English is full of words that include silent letters that IRL are not supposed to be pronounced. Mind you I don’t think pronouncing the T in often is pretentious. I moved to the US from the UK decades ago, and got teased about precise diction - like saying “Mirr-OR” instead of the American “MEER.” ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907/8 "2011-10-26T22:27:25Z")
Niether. More like off-tin. I seldom hear people around me say it without at least a hint of the “t” sound. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907/9 "2011-10-26T22:32:38Z")
Off - ten My parents both pronounced it that way. All my sibs pronounce it that way. It has nothing with trying or wanting to sound pretentious or trying to be correct. It’s just how we say it. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907/10 "2011-10-26T22:32:44Z")
Offen. ETA: this is the first I ever heard of pronouncing the ‘t’ being pretentious. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907/11 "2011-10-26T22:39:09Z")
Here we are again! I say “often”. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907/12 "2011-10-26T22:43:41Z")
I used to say the t. Now I don’t. I don’t care unless a T’er tries to tell me I’m saying it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907/13 "2011-10-26T22:49:08Z")
What, no Pirates of Penzance jokes yet? I don’t know this board anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907/14 "2011-10-26T22:50:34Z")
No T for me. The only person I’ve heard pronounce the “t” consistantly was one of my college teachers, and it struck me as annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907/15 "2011-10-26T22:53:50Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > But then…do you pronounce the G in gnat, the K in knot, etc? > English is full of words that include silent letters that IRL are not supposed to be pronounced. > > Mind you I don’t think pronouncing the T in often is pretentious. I moved to the US from the UK decades ago, and got teased about precise diction - like saying “Mirr-OR” instead of the American “MEER.” I don’t say ‘meer’ and I’d chuckle at anyone who did. I don’t say ‘offen’ that often, either. On occasion, it comes out muddled - offen - but I don’t use the word that much in the first place. I also say “thee” instead of “the” a lot. _shrug_ ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907/16 "2011-10-26T23:03:22Z")
> [@Soliloquy](#): > > Off-ten. I’ve always pronounced the t. I know some people believe that it is pretentious to pronounce the t, but I don’t do it out of pretension. I just always thought the t was there for a reason. Do you liss-ten to music? Fass-ten your seat belt? ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907/17 "2011-10-26T23:04:54Z")
I pronounce the T, but I don’t \*emphasize \*it. My mom enunciates crisply and pronounces everything correctly, it rubbed off. I also say ‘Feb-ru-ary’. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907/18 "2011-10-26T23:07:13Z")
The t is silent. [Yourdictionary](http://www.yourdictionary.com/library/mispron.html) lists it as one of the 100 most often mispronounced words and phrases in English. I’ve never heard anyone have trouble with listen, soften, fasten, hasten, etc. I don’t understand what makes often so hard. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907/19 "2011-10-26T23:07:54Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Do you liss-ten to music? Fass-ten your seat belt? I don’t know how to spell it phonetically, but it’s not quite ‘fas-ten’ or ‘fassen’. It’s something in between. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907/20 "2011-10-26T23:10:23Z")
Offen. As much as I like Paul Simon, I’ve never liked the way he sings “offten” in American Tune. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/often-off-ten-or-off-en/600907.md?page=2)