20 of the most commonly mispronounced words in the English ...

1 Pronunciation · 2 Cupboard · 3 Epitome · 4 Salmon/almond · 5 Library/February · 6 Definitely · 7 Ask · 8 Wednesday. discovernewsHongKongAsiaEnvironmentGlobalSportslifestyleFeaturesHealth&FitnessTravelFoodentertainmentMoviesTVTech&GamingMusicBooksadvicePersonaldevelopmentLivingMoneyRelationshipsyourvoiceOpinionLetterstotheEditorsStories&PoemsCompetitionsvideoYoungPostisaunitofSouthChinaMorningPostOverviewnews+lifestyle+entertainment+advice+yourvoice+videoYPDiscoverLifestyleFeatures20ofthemostcommonlymispronouncedwordsintheEnglishlanguagePublished: 3:24am,7Aug,2020ByKarlyCox Notsurehowtosayespresso?What'sthedifferencebetweendesertanddessert?  Getitrightthefirsttimewithourhandylistofreallydifficulttopronouncewords ByKarlyCox |Published: 3:24am,7Aug,2020CommentCopiedLatestArticlesHongKongSecondaryschoolsmusthave90percentthird-jabrateforfull-daylessons30Aug,2022GlobalEnvironmentOne-thirdofPakistanfloodedaseffortstoraisemoneyforvictimsrampup30Aug,2022MusicTaylorSwiftTaylorSwiftannounces10thstudioalbum‘Midnights’dropsOct2130Aug,2022LifestyleLanguageFarewell?Fearnot–4Cantoneseslangphrasestosaygoodbye30Aug,2022HongKongStudentoftheYearSOTY21/22:WinnerofLinguist-Englishawardhaspassionforpublicspeaking30Aug,2022HongKongEducation6in10HongKongsecondarypupilsfearmeetingwithoutmasks:survey29Aug,2022Dessertiswaybetterthandesert,amIright?Englishcanbeaverysillylanguage,withmanywordslookingnothinglikethewaytheyshouldbesaid.Therearealsoalotofwordsthatsomanypeoplesayslightlywrong,thatoftenpeoplearetaughttheincorrectwaytopronouncethem.Hereare20ofthemostcommonlymispronouncedwordsinEnglish,andhowtosaythemright.1PronunciationIronically,manypeoplemispronouncethisword!It’sthatsneakydroppingofthe“o”fromthewordthatisconfusing.Say:pruh-nun-see-AYE-shun2CupboardAlthoughthiswordliterallymeansaboard,ortable,forcups(andotherthingslikeplatesandbowls),the“P”issilent.Say:cuh-bud17commonlymispronouncedfoodsandhowtosaythem,fromquinoatoSriracha3EpitomeHarryPotterfansareaheadofthegamewhenitcomestothisword,meaningapersonorthingthatistheperfectexampleofaparticularquality.LikeHermione,theendvowelissounded.Say:eh-PIT-oh-mee4Salmon/almondThesetwopopularfoodsaretrickybecausethe“L”issilentinboth.Say:SAM-un,ARM-undHardtopronounce,delicioustoeat.5Library/FebruaryThisoneisaproblemformanynon-nativeEnglishspeakersaswellasalotofnativeEnglishspeakerswhoonlyspeakEnglish,sodon’tworryifyoufinditdifficult!The“br”soundbeforethe“ry”soundcanbealotforanyonetogettheirmoutharound.Say:lye-bruh-ree,feb-roo-air-ree6DefinitelyThisisoftenconfusedwithasimilarlyspelledword,“defiantly”(say:de-FY-unt-lee),whichdescribesbehavinginawaythatshowsyou’reclearlyrefusingtodowhatsomeonetoldyou.Say:DEF-in-ut-lee7AskSometimes,shortwordsareevenharderthanlongones.Alotofpeopleconfusethiswordwith“axe”,thesharptoolusedtochopwood,whichhasthesamesyllablesoundsinthereverseorder.Say:arrskPopularEnglishidiomsandphrases,categorisedbytheme8WednesdayThiswordlookslikeitshouldtakefarlongertosaythanitdoes.Themiddlethreeletterslookliketheyshouldbeaseparatesyllable,butthetruthis,theysortofget“swallowed”.They’retherebecausethedayisnamedaftertheNorsegodOdinakaWoden–Woden’sDay.Say:WENZ-day9StomachTherearesomanymisleadinglettersinthisword.Alotofpeopleunderstandablypronounce“sto-”like“slow”,andimaginethe“-ch”shouldbelikethefirstsoundin“cheese”.They’renot.Say:STU-muk(andifyoursissore,sayyouhaveSTU-mukAKE)The"e"inclotheschangesthepronunciationentirely.10ClothesThisisagoodexampleofthe“magice”–whereaddingan“e”totheendofawordchangesitsvowelsound.Theendofthewordcanbehardtosay,evenfornativespeakers–thecombinationofthe“th”and“z”soundsisquitethemouthful.Here,yousay“th”thesamewayasitsoundsin“this”.Say:clohthz11Especially/escape/espressoForsomereason,manypeopleputan“x”soundintothesewords.Resist!Say:es-PESH-ul-lee/es-CAYP/es-PRES-so12ProbablyThishasthreesyllables,eventhoughalotofpeopledropthemiddleone.Don’tdoit!Say:PROB-ub-bleeIncreaseyourvocabulary:Wordstousewhentalkingaboutpersonaldevelopment13YolkThisisdoublyconfusing,becauseitdescribestheyellowpartoftheegg–anditwouldmakesenseforthe“L”soundtobeheardjustlikeitisinthecolour.It’snot.Itrhymeswith“joke”.(Thesameistrueof“folk”.)Say:yohk14Desert/dessertThesetwoverysimilar-lookingwordshavethreetotallydifferentmeanings,andnoneofthemispronouncedthewaygrammarruleswouldsuggest.It’sbestjusttotakeyourtimetoworkoutwhichoneyou’relookingat,andmemorisethecorrectwaytosayeach.Say:desert(thedry,sandyplacewherecamelsroam)DEZ-ut●desert(toleavesomeoneorsomethingandnolongerhelpthem)dizz-URT●dessert(asweetdishattheendofameal)dizz-URT15WomenEventhoughthefirstthreelettersofthiswordarethesameasthesingular“woman”(wuh-mun),thevowelsoundisverydifferent.Say:WI-min16SouthernEventhoughthisdoesrefertothecompassdirection“south”,itisn’tsaidthesame.Say:SUTH-unDon’tratoutyourfriends!13mouseandratidiomstohelpyourwritingshine17IronWhetheryou’rereferringtothemetal,orthedeviceyouusetoflattenyourschooluniform,thisisafunnylittleword.Say:EYE-un18SpecificNottobeconfusedwiththePacificOcean;the“sp”soundcanbequitechallenging,sopractisesayingitonitsownbeforeyoupractisethewholeword.Say:speh-SI-fik19SixthThere’salotgoingonwiththisone,sotakeyourtime.Practisesaying“six”,andthenwhenyou’reconfidentwiththat,add“th”,thesamesoundasattheendof“bath”–putyourtonguebetweenyourfrontteeth,andblow.Say:siksth20Crowd/cloudThesetwowordsrhyme,buttheyhaveaverydifferentfirstconsonantsound.It’sOKtoslightlyseparateoutthetwoconsonantstomakeiteasiertopronouncethem.Onceyouareconfident,youcanstopsplittingthemintoseparatesyllables.Say:k-Rowd/k-LowdSignupfortheYPTeachersNewsletterGetupdatesforteacherssentdirectlytoyourinboxSubmitByregistering,youagreetoourT&CandPrivacyPolicyCommentSignupforYPWeeklyGetupdatessentdirectlytoyourinboxSubmitByregistering,youagreetoourT&CandPri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