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.
