AAAmerican Accent US

turn around

Both

Sense-dependent: some meanings take an object and split, others take none. Check the sense you mean.

How to say it

Stress the particle, not the verb: turn AROUND. Saying “TURN around” is the clearest learner tell — the verb stays light and the particle carries the beat.

Link across the gap. The final /n/ of “turn” moves onto the particle and starts its syllable: “turn around” is said “tur-naround”. Pausing between the words is what makes phrasal verbs sound recited rather than spoken.

Verb vs noun

As a noun the stress flips to the front: the verb is turn AROUND, the noun is TURNAROUND. Same two words, different beat — “to turn AROUND” is the action, “a turnaround” is the thing. Getting this backwards makes the sentence land oddly even when every sound is right.

2 meanings

  1. 1

    To face or move in the opposite direction.

    • “Turn around slowly and keep your hands visible.”

    Similar: reverse

  2. 2

    To improve a failing situation.

    • “She turned the department around in eighteen months.”

    Similar: revive, rescue

The particle logic

around

Movement with no fixed destination, or a turn to face the other way.

Listen + practice

Hear “turn around” spoken naturally

Pick a sentence to record

Read the sentence aloud. Keep the stress on the particle and run the two words together — we’ll score every sound and flag what to work on.

Click to record

More TURN phrasal verbs

Compare the whole family →

turn off

To switch a device or supply off.

turn on

To switch a device or supply on.

turn into

To become something different.

turn down

To reject an offer or request.

turn up

To arrive, often unexpectedly or late.

turn out

To prove to be the case in the end.

turn over

To flip something so the other side is up.

turn in

To submit work to someone in authority.

turn away

To refuse entry or help to someone.

turn around — meaning, examples & how to say it