---
title: "How to pronounce \"borrowed time\" in English | SayItVid"
description: "Learn how to say \"borrowed time\" correctly. Watch real-life video examples and master your English pronunciation with SayItVid."
image: "https://img.youtube.com/vi/SNuHbJbuUZE/hqdefault.jpg"
url: "https://sayitvid.com/pronounce/borrowed-time"
---


# How to pronounce "borrowed time" in English

## Pronunciation & Phonetics

- **IPA**: `/bɒrrɒwɛdtæɪm/`
- **Syllable Breakdown**: **bor·ro·wed·time**

## Real-Life Native Speaker Examples (15 Video Clips)

Listen to native speakers pronounce "borrowed time" in real conversation:

### Example 1
> "And what I mean by that is, I think that knowing that life has a 100% mortality rate, that all of us has a limited time here. We're living on borrowed time. That's not to freak people out. It's to make people say, "How are you actually spending this borrowed time that you have here?" Because one day you might look back and wonder why. And I always say that regret"
- **Watch at 86:54**: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNuHbJbuUZE&t=5214s)

### Example 2
> "position is unrecoverable. That he is just too unpopular in the party, too unpopular in the country to come back from this and that therefore he is a Prime Minister on borrowed time and and a speech was never going to, you know, under undermine or change that sort of fundamental basic problem that he faces."
- **Watch at 0:57**: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHxwhcbWc4s&t=57s)

### Example 3
> "any form of Taiwan independence. Are you living on borrowed time? Yes, we are living under the Chinese military at all times for a couple of years."
- **Watch at 1:15**: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjrEfFWq4oc&t=75s)

### Example 4
*Accent: UK*
> "running on borrowed time at this point erdogan has been kicking the can down"
- **Watch at 1:07**: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkE6bb84bXM&t=67s)

### Example 5
*Accent: US*
> "And recognize your borrowed time before all of these petals fall."
- **Watch at 10:50**: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3rhLl7F97s&t=650s)

### Example 6
> "maybe big international players will come in and absorb them. Are they on living on borrowed time? What's their future trajectory?"
- **Watch at 13:37**: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh041Jgp4ow&t=817s)

### Example 7
> "in this podcast man um so much uh and he said you know after that day I just everything was I was living on borrowed time in my opinion he's like I should have been down there and uh he said I get up every day I look at the obituary and if I'm not in it I figure I'm good for another day and uh he had I think three heart attacks three open heart surgeries two strokes he had a"
- **Watch at 146:57**: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Znoi6tBtYRc&t=8817s)

### Example 8
> "that legal recourse is completely ended, that it's basically a fait accompli. They're just basically waiting on borrowed time unless there is any sort of in government intervention and we all know that the current Israeli government there is no political will to come in and intervene and I think it's important to underscore here that if we were speaking about right 700 Jewish Israelis"
- **Watch at 7:36**: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCyy0946ehU&t=456s)

### Example 9
> "My guest in Taipei is the Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu. Is the island living on borrowed time? We know that we have the ability to deal with the Chinese invasion."
- **Watch at 0:19**: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjrEfFWq4oc&t=19s)

### Example 10
> "weather returns into a concert gets going on the beach but how long will the band keep playing usually a recession takes 6 months to filter down to the Art Market so the scene may be on borrowed time look"
- **Watch at 6:21**: [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPE2I3QwH4Y&t=381s)


## How to Pronounce "borrowed time"

- **Syllables**: bor · ro · wed · time
- **IPA**: `/bɒrrɒwɛdtæɪm/`
- **Listen for**: the stressed syllable in the clips above — notice how surrounding sounds blend in natural speech.

## Related Pronunciations

[time flies](https://sayitvid.com/pronounce/time-flies), [time passes quickly](https://sayitvid.com/pronounce/time-passes-quickly), [in the blink of an eye](https://sayitvid.com/pronounce/in-the-blink-of-an-eye), [fleeting](https://sayitvid.com/pronounce/fleeting), [speeding by](https://sayitvid.com/pronounce/speeding-by), [borrowed](https://sayitvid.com/pronounce/borrowed), [time](https://sayitvid.com/pronounce/time)

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How do you pronounce “borrowed time”?
“borrowed time” is pronounced /bɒrrɒwɛdtæɪm/ (bor · ro · wed · time). Listen to the native-speaker clips above to hear it in real conversation.

### How many syllables are in “borrowed time”?
“borrowed time” has 4 syllables: bor · ro · wed · time.

### How can I hear “borrowed time” used in real sentences?
This page has 15 real-world video examples of “borrowed time” with synchronized subtitles. Use Previous / Next (or ← / → keys) to hear each one at the exact moment it is spoken.


```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@graph": [
    {
      "@type": "WebPage",
      "@id": "https://sayitvid.com/pronounce/borrowed-time#webpage",
      "url": "https://sayitvid.com/pronounce/borrowed-time",
      "name": "How to pronounce \"borrowed time\" in English | SayItVid",
      "description": "Authentic native video pronunciation clips, phonetic IPA transcriptions, and subtitles for the English word \"borrowed time\".",
      "inLanguage": "en-US",
      "isPartOf": {
        "@type": "WebSite",
        "@id": "https://sayitvid.com/#website",
        "name": "SayItVid",
        "url": "https://sayitvid.com"
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "DefinedTerm",
      "@id": "https://sayitvid.com/pronounce/borrowed-time#term",
      "name": "borrowed time",
      "inDefinedTermSet": {
        "@type": "DefinedTermSet",
        "name": "SayItVid English Pronunciation Dictionary",
        "url": "https://sayitvid.com/browse"
      },
      "pronunciationPhonetic": "/bɒrrɒwɛdtæɪm/"
    },
    {
      "@type": "LearningResource",
      "@id": "https://sayitvid.com/pronounce/borrowed-time#learning-resource",
      "name": "Pronunciation Guide for \"borrowed time\"",
      "description": "Pronunciation practice and listening training for \"borrowed time\".",
      "educationalUse": "Pronunciation and Listening Practice",
      "inLanguage": "en-US",
      "learningResourceType": "Video Clip"
    },
    {
      "@type": "VideoObject",
      "@id": "https://sayitvid.com/pronounce/borrowed-time#video-SNuHbJbuUZE",
      "name": "How to pronounce \"borrowed time\" in English - Native Speaker Video Example",
      "description": "Watch a native English speaker pronounce \"borrowed time\" in real conversation: \"And what I mean by that is, I think that knowing that life has a 100% mortality rate, that all of us has a limited time here. We're living on borrowed time. That's not to freak people out. It's to make people say, \"How are you actually spending this borrowed time that you have here?\" Because one day you might look back and wonder why. And I always say that regret\"",
      "thumbnailUrl": [
        "https://img.youtube.com/vi/SNuHbJbuUZE/maxresdefault.jpg",
        "https://img.youtube.com/vi/SNuHbJbuUZE/hqdefault.jpg"
      ],
      "uploadDate": "2024-01-01T00:00:00Z",
      "contentUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNuHbJbuUZE&t=5214s",
      "embedUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/embed/SNuHbJbuUZE?start=5214",
      "transcript": "And what I mean by that is, I think that knowing that life has a 100% mortality rate, that all of us has a limited time here. We're living on borrowed time. That's not to freak people out. It's to make people say, \"How are you actually spending this borrowed time that you have here?\" Because one day you might look back and wonder why. And I always say that regret",
      "hasPart": {
        "@type": "Clip",
        "name": "Pronunciation of \"borrowed time\"",
        "startOffset": 5214,
        "endOffset": 5225,
        "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNuHbJbuUZE&t=5214s"
      }
    },
    {
      "@type": "FAQPage",
      "@id": "https://sayitvid.com/pronounce/borrowed-time#faq",
      "mainEntity": [
        {
          "@type": "Question",
          "name": "How do you pronounce “borrowed time”?",
          "acceptedAnswer": {
            "@type": "Answer",
            "text": "“borrowed time” is pronounced /bɒrrɒwɛdtæɪm/ (bor · ro · wed · time). Listen to the native-speaker clips above to hear it in real conversation."
          }
        },
        {
          "@type": "Question",
          "name": "How many syllables are in “borrowed time”?",
          "acceptedAnswer": {
            "@type": "Answer",
            "text": "“borrowed time” has 4 syllables: bor · ro · wed · time."
          }
        },
        {
          "@type": "Question",
          "name": "How can I hear “borrowed time” used in real sentences?",
          "acceptedAnswer": {
            "@type": "Answer",
            "text": "This page has 15 real-world video examples of “borrowed time” with synchronized subtitles. Use Previous / Next (or ← / → keys) to hear each one at the exact moment it is spoken."
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```
