See 35 English Words You Are Pronouncing Wrongly!

Today we shall be learning 35 words that are commonly pronounced incorrectly, and how to correctly pronounce these.

1. Pronunciation
Although we pronounce the word, pronounce as / prə-nouns / , the correct way to pronounce the word pronunciation is /prə-nən-si-'ei-shən/ .
2. Says
This word is commonly mispronounced by people learning English as /saiz/ , but the correct way to pronounce the word is /sez/ .
3. Etcetera (etc)
Although many people pronounce the word as /ek-'se-tra/ , the correct pronunciation however is /et-'se-tə-rə/ or /et-'se-trə/ (this pronunciation is less common but it's ok).
4. Often
Now many people pronounce this word with the t. That is not wrong, but a more preferable pronunciation is /ɒ-fən/ .
5. Women
Nigerians alike have perfected the art of mispronouncing words. Now although we pronounce woman as /wu-mən/ , the correct pronunciation for the word women, is infact /wi-min/ .
6. Police
The correct pronunciation is /pə-'lees/ . shikenan
7. Vehicle
If you guessed /'vee-ə-kl/ then you are correct.
8. Genre
The correct pronunciation for this word is
/'zhɒn-rə/ .
9. Video
The important thing to note in this one is that the i and the e are pronounced as short i sounds. So it's /'vi-di-o/ . Tan queue, Shola.
10. Comment
Most speakers in Nigeria will pronounce this word as /kə-ment/ or /koment/ , but the real pronunciation is /'kɒ-ment/ . The secret is in realizing that the stress is in the first syllable.
11. Suite
This word is pronounced, /'sweet/ and not
/'soot/
12. Restaurant
This word is not pronounced, /'rest-orant/ as many Nigerian speakers will make us believe, as a matter of fact the correct pronunciation for this word is /'res-tə-rɒnt/ . You might hear some British speakers pronouncing this word as /res-trɒnt/ . This is also correct
13 Sewage
I hear a lot of Nigerians pronounce this word as /'sea-wage/ . This is incorrect as the correct way to pronounce the word is
/'soo-ij/ .
14. Breakfast
/'brek-fəst/
15. Vegetable
The e after the g is silent, and so the pronunciation is /'vej-tə-bl/
16. Cucumber
Ladies and gentlemen, it's not /'koo-koom-ba/ . It is /'kyoo-kəm-bər/ . Also make sure you pronounce the r
17. Lettuce
This vegetable is called /'letis/
Many word in the English language have silent letters or alphabets we don't pronounce. Take for instance
18. Receipt
Here the p is silent, and so the pronunciation becomes /ri-'seet/ .
19. Debt
Here too the b is silent in this word, and so the pronunciation becomes /'det/ .
20. Mortgage
This word that means a loan that a bank gives you to buy a house is actually pronounced /'mor-gij/ and you have to pronounce the R too. It's not there for nothing.
21. Subtle
How will you say this word? It is /'sə-tl/ because the b is silent.
22. Singer
In this word, the g is silent and so our end pronunciation is /'siŋ-er/ . Other words like younger and finger have the G present but not in singer... no, it's not.
23. Plumber
The mistake that Nigerians make is pronouncing this word with the B in it and so replacing the R with an A. The correct pronunciation for this word is /'pləm-ər/ .
In many words when you have the combination letters, m and b, the b is silent. Like comb or climb or even thumb and tomb
24. Bury
Apparently one of the words that Nigerians pronounce correctly is bury. It is pronounced /'beri/ as like berry. Forget those Nollywood actors.
25. Wednesday
This day of the week is pronounced without the first D. The pronunciation is /'wenz-deɪ/ .
26. Sword
This word is pronounced /'sord/ with the R inclusive. So don't go pronouncing the word as so:d then that will just be absurd.
27. Arctic
/ark-tik/
28. Mischievous
I hear a lot of people pronounce this word as /'mis-chi-vi-yourz/ , and that is wrong. The correct way is /'mis-chi-vəs/ .
29. Tuition
The right way to pronounce this word is /tu-'wi-shən/ . British call it /tyu-'wi-shən/ . Both are correct.
30. Zoology
If you pronounce the word as /zoo-lo-ji/ or
/zoo-a-lo-ji/ then you're wrong. The correct pronunciation for this word is /zo-ɒ-lə-ji/ .
31. Develop
/di-vel-əp/
32. Photography
/fə-'tɒ-grə-fi/
3. Jewelry
Although it's spelt differently in American and British English, the pronunciation is the same. /'joo-əl-ri/
34. Quote
Often mispronounced the same as coat, the correct pronunciation for this word is
/'kwot/ .
35. Schedule
American pronunciation is /'ske-jool/ and the British pronunciation is /'shɛ-jool/ or
/'shɛd-yool/ .
36. Bonus lesson
Am is a state of being verb. I'm is a contraction that means I am. So how we came to a point where people use 'am' in place of 'I'm' is mind boggling.