How to Pronounce Fourth Heart Sound

Say it like this: FORTH HART SOWND. The word 'forth' rhymes with 'north,' 'hart' sounds like the animal (a deer), and 'sownd' is the same as the word 'sound.' Put the stress on FORTH, which is the first word of this two-word phrase.

Break it into three parts: FORTH (one syllable) + HART (one syllable) + SOWND (one syllable). So the whole phrase is three syllables total: FORTH-HART-SOWND.

The stress falls on the first word—say FORTH louder and longer than the other words. A common mistake is stressing the middle word (hart) instead, but you want to emphasize FORTH above all else.

It's an extra sound that your heart makes—a quiet, low-pitched noise that happens right before the main heartbeat sound. Think of it like an extra 'thump' that shows the heart is working harder during a certain part of its rhythm.

Doctors and nurses often call it 'S4' (pronounced 'ess-four'). The 'S' stands for 'sound' and the '4' tells you it's the fourth extra sound, so when you hear 'S4,' that's short for 'fourth heart sound.'

Yes—you might also hear 'third heart sound' (S3, pronounced 'ess-three') or 'heart murmur,' which are other extra sounds the heart can make. They're all different types of extra noises doctors listen for with a stethoscope.

A doctor might say: 'I detected a fourth heart sound during the patient's exam.' Or in conversation: 'The cardiologist explained that the fourth heart sound she heard was an important finding.'

The heart normally makes two main sounds (called S1 and S2) during each heartbeat. A 'fourth heart sound' (S4) is an extra one that shows up in addition to those normal sounds, so doctors numbered it fourth to keep track of all the different sounds they can hear.