Improve your

English
Pronunciation
And Learn over 500 Commonly
Mispronounced Words

by

Jakub Marian
First Edition, August 2013

The PDF version has no associated ISBN

 Author and Publisher:
Jakub Marian, Sewanstraße 217, 10319, Berlin, Germany

Cover picture of the head by © Andrey Ospishchev,

licensed from fotolia.com. Overall front cover
design © Jakub Marian.
 BEFORE YOU START READING
Youarer
eadi
ngt hesampleofthi
sbook.Thef
ullbooki
savai
l-
a
bleasaPDFfi
le,
forKindle
,andasapaperba
ckat
:

ht
tp:
//
jakubmar
ian.
com/
pronunc
iat
ion/
Thissampl econta
insthebeginningofthel i
stofthemos tcom-
monlymi spronounced words(t
hec omplet
ebookc ont
ainssever
al
hundredmor ewor ds)andthebeginningofthesecondpart,which
descr
ibe
sc ommon e rr
orpatte
rnsi n Engli
sh pronunci
ati
on.The
thi
rdpartaboutEnglishphonol
ogyi snoti
ncludedinthesample.
 WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS BOOK
Thefirs
tpartoft hi
sbooki sconc er
ne dwi thwor dsthatar emost
commonl ypronounc edwr ongbyEngl ishlearners
.Pr onunc i
ati
onis
wr i
ttenusingtheI nter
nationalPhone ticAl phabet(IPA) ,whichis
standarda mong contempor ary English dicti
onari
es,a nd us i
ng a
ps e
udo-Engli
shnot ati
ont hatusesjustf ourI P
Ac haracters(ə,æ,ʌ,
andð) .
Ifyoucan’
treadI PA ye
t,don’twor ry;gett
ingus edtot hepseudo-
Engl i
shnotat
ionwi llbejustamat te
rofmi nutes(ther uleswillbe
explaine
datt hebeginningoft hefi
rstc hapter)
,andyouwi l
lbeable
toreadmos tofitr
ighta way.Thelistofwor dslookslikethi s
:

height [
haɪt] (
haayt)
;thepronunciat
ion i
sasifitwe
rewr
itt
en
“hight
”.The“e ”isthe
rej
usttoconfusef
orei
gne
rs.

wolf [wʊlf](woolf)
;thisisoneofaf ew wordsinwhichas i
ngle“o”
i
spr onounc edas[ ʊ](
as“oo”in“good”) .Othe
rexamplesincl
ude
woman [ ˈwʊmən]( woo-mən),ands imil
arwordswomb [ wuːm]
(woom) ,theor gani nwhichac hi
ld befor
ebirt
hi s
,and tomb
[tuːm](toom) ,aplaceinwhichrema insofdeadpeoplear
es t
ored.
Tombstone i spr onounced“toom-stone”.

Greenwich [
ˈgrɛnɪtʃ](
gren-itch)or[ˈgrɪnɪdʒ](grin-idzh);youprob-
abl
y know thiswor dfrom t heGr ee nwich Me an Ti me( GMT)
st
andard.J
ustr eme mbe rt hatthe
r ei snogr ee nwi tc
hi nGreen-
wich.

ˈkhɜːnəl](
colonel [ kə’ə-nl)UK,[ˈkhɝːnəl](kər-nl)US;i
sthe
reakerne
l
ins
ideac olonel(ami li
taryof fi
ce r)?We l
l,atleas
tinpr
onunci
-
ati
on,t
he rei s(t
heyar epr onounc edt hes ame ).

Afte
rfinis
hingthefir
stpartoft
hisbook,youwil
lhavele
arnedmor
e
t
han3 00suchwor ds.
Int hesecond par
tofthisbook,youwi lll
earnaboutthemost
commonpat t
ernsofe r
ror
si nEngli
sh.Youwilllear
nthat“eu”i
n
Englishi sus uall
ypr onounc ed[juː](yoo)or[uː](oo)(asinneutral =
“n(y)oo-trəl”),t
hat“x”a tthebe ginningofawor dispr onounc
eda s
[z](asinXerox =“ zee-roks”)
,ands everaldozenmor esuchrul
es.
There ’sa l
soal i
stofwor dsinwhi ch“o”i spronounc e
das[ʌ](as
in“ come ”)whi chle arnersofte
nmi s t
ake nl
ypr onounc eas[o](t
here
areabout40s uchcommonwor ds )
.Fore xampl e:

front [
frʌnt](
frʌnt)
ˈʌnjən](
onion [ ʌn-yən)
ˈwʌn](
won [ wʌn)

Youwil
lals
olear
naboutwordst
hatc
anbepr
onounc
edi
ntwo
di
ff
ere
ntwayssuc
has“wind”:
(NOUN) [
wɪnd](
win’d)i
samove
mentofai
r.
(VERB) [
waɪnd]( waaynd) means “tot ur
n,e s
pecial
lysome
thi
ng
around something el
se”.Fore xample,a r
ive
rora wa ycan
“waaynd”,oryouc a
n“ waaynd”awi r
earoundacoil.

Manys
uchwor
dsdi
ff
eronl
yins
tre
sspos
iti
on,f
ore
xampl
e:

conserve;[ kənˈsɜːv](kən-sə’əv)UK,[ kənˈsɝːv](kən-sərv)US (VERB)

me ans“tous ea sli
ttl
ea spos sible”(e.
g.“t ocons ervee nergy”)or
“topr ote
c tsome t
hingf rom be i
ngde stroyed”( e.g.“ tocons erve
wi l
dli
fe”);[ˈkɒnsɜːv]( konn-sə’əv)UK,[ ˈkɑːnsɝːv]( kaan-sərv)US
(NOUN) i
ss ynonymoust o“whol efruitjam”.Unl i
kei nothe rlan-
guage s,
itisn’tsynonymoust oac an(ana lumi nium c ontainer)
.

Fi
nal
ly,i
nt het
hir
dpartoft
hisbook,youwil
llear
nt heInt
erna-
t
iona
lPhoneti
cAlphabe
t(I
PA)andbasi
csofEngl
ishphonology
.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Be
for
eyous
tar
tre
adi
ng .
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.4
Whatt
oexpe
ctf
rom t
hisbook .
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..5
For
ewor
d..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
...
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..8

Pa
rtI
:Mi
spr
onounc
edwor
ds.
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
...
..
..
..
..
..
..
.. 11
I
.1I
ntr
oduc
tion .
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
.12
I
.2Wor
dsyoude
fini
tel
yshoul
dknow .
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..1
4
I
.3Wor
dsyous
houl
dpr
obabl
yknow .
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
.32
I
.4Wor
dst
hatmi
ghtbeus
eful.
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..4
6
I
.5Al
phabe
tic
ali
nde
xofPar
tI.
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
...
..
..
..
..
..
..
.52

Pa
rtI
I:Commone
rrorpat
ter
ns.
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
...
..
..
..
..
..
. 55
I
I1I
. nt
erac
tionwi
thmot
hert
ongue.
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
...5
6
I
I.
2O pr
onounc
eda
sinc
ome.
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
..
..
..
..
.60
I
I3Chpr
. onounc
eda
ssh.
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
...
..
..
..
..6
2
I
I.
4Commonpr
efi
xesandpos
tfi
xes.
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
.68
I
I.
5He
ter
onyms.
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
..
.71
I
I.
6St
res
spos
iti
onandme
ani
ng .
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
.76
I
I.
7Al
phabe
tic
ali
nde
xofPar
tII.
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
...
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..9
1

Pa
rtI
II:Engl
ishphonol
ogy .
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.. 94
I
II.
1IP
AforEngl
ish.
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
.95
I
II.
2Pr
onunc
iat
ionofvowe
ls.
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
.10
6
I
II.
3Le
tte
rgr
oupsi
nEngl
ish.
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
.
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
.10
9
 FOREWORD
Thisf
ore
wo r
dexpl
ai
nswhyIbel
iev
etha
tEngl
is
hisahardlangua
get
o
l
ear
n.Ifyouareea
gertos
tar
timp
rovi
ngyourp
ronunc
iat
ion,j
ustsk
ipt
o
t
henexts
ecti
on.

Whati si tthatmake sEngl ishs ohar df orf oreigne r

st ol ear n?Ibe-
lievet hati ti sac ombi nat ionofi tsspe ll
inga ndpr onunc i
at ion.Mos t
language sha vear egul at orybodywhi chi ssuess pe l
lingr e formsas
thepr onunc i
at i
on oft hel anguagede ve l
ops .On t heot he rhand,
Engl i
shs pe l
lingi s“r egul ated”byi nfl
ue nti
aldi ctionar ies,s uc ha s
We bster’sdi ctionar yorTheOxf ordEngl i
s hDi ctionar y.
Byt het imet hes edi c tionar i
e swe rewr itt
e n( dur ingt he19th c en-
tur y),Engl i
s hpr onunc iationhada lreadybe e nc hangi ngf ors eve ral
hundr edye ar s.Thi swasunf ortunat e l
ynotr eflectedbyt heaut hor s
oft hedi ctionar ies,and,i na ddi tiont ot hat,Engl ishpr onunc iation
hasdi verge de venf ur t
he rfrom i tss pellings inc et hef irste di t
ionsof
the sedi ctionar ieswe r ewr itt
e n.Asar es ult,Engl ishs pellingha sbe-
comeve ryi rregul ar.
Thispos e samuc hgr eaterpr oblemt ol ear nersofEngl isht hant o
nat ives pe ake rs,be c aus enat ives peake rsknow how t opr onounc e
wor ds;the yj us tha vet obeabl et os pe l
lt hemc or rec t
ly,whi c hisnot
suc habi gpr oble m nowada yswhe nanyonec anus eas pe l
lc he cke r.
Learne rsofEngl ish,ont hec ontrar y,me etmos toft he irvoc abu-
laryi nt hewr i
ttenf or mf i
r s
t.Itisof te npos si
bl e(ande venappr opr i-
ate)t ode rivet heme ani ngofane w wor df rom t hec ont ext ,buti n-
stead ofl ooki ng up t he c orre ctpr onunc iation i n a di c t
ionar y,
lear nerst endt ogue sswhatt hepr onunc iati
onmi ghtbe( ac cordi ng
tot he i
re xpe r i
enc e)a ndt henus et hispr onunc iationi nt ernal lywhe n
thinki ng a boutt hewor d.Unf or tunat ely,s uc h gue ssesar ewr ong
mos toft het ime .
Oneoft her easonst he yar ewr ongs oof teni sanunus ual l
yl arge
numbe rofvowe l
sa ndc ons onant spr esenti nEngl ishwhi chmus tbe
dist i
ngui she di n or de rt o beunde rstood c orre ctl
y( thes oc al l
ed
“mi nima lpai rs”)whi chs oundal mos tthes amet ot hel earne r’
se ar.
Fore xampl e ,none oft he wor ds“be d”,“be t”,“bad”,“ bat ”,
“bud”,and“ but ”ispr onounc edt hes amea sanyoft heot he rs( the y
arepr onounc ed,i nt hes a meor de r
:[ bɛd] ,[bɛt] ,[ bæd] ,[ bæt] ,[ bʌd] ,
and[ bʌt] ).Ne verthe le ss,t he sear eallpat ternst hatc anbel ear ne d
(andyouwi l
ldos oi nPar tIIIoft hisbook) ,be caus eal lt hedi ffe r
-
enc esar ei ndi cate di ns pellingi nqui tear egul arwa y .
A muc hgr eat erpr obl emi spos ed bys pe llinga mbi gui tiesand
histor i
cals pe ll
ingst hatdon’ tfol l
ow c urre ntpr onunc iationr ule sat
all.Whyi s“de ar ”pr onounc edt hes ameas“de e r”but“ be ar”and
“be er”s ounddi ffer ent ?Orwhyi s“ colone l
”pr onounc e dt hes ame
as“ke rne l”?
Inaddi tiont ot hepr oble msweha veal readyme nt i
one d,t he rei s
noi ndi cat ionofs tre sspl ac eme nti nEngl ishwhat soe ver.I nmos tl an-
guage s,s tre s
spl ace me nti sgove rnedbyr elative lys impl er ule s;i n
Engl ish,i ti sal mos tc ompl e t
e l
yi r re
gul ar( apar tf rom af ew har d- to-
follow pat terns )
,a ndwor dsc ane venc hanget he irme ani ngde pe nd-
ing on s tress pos ition.Al so,pr onunc iation of vowe l
s us ua l
ly
change sde pe ndi ngonwhe the rt heyar es tress ed.Fore xampl e,“ an-
gel”i spr onounc ed[ ˈeɪndʒəl]( eyn-dzhəl)whe reas“a nge lic”i spr o-
nounc ed[ ænˈdʒɛlɪk]( æn-dzhel-ik) ,i.
e.notonl yha st hes tresss hi f
t ed
byaddi ngas uffix,buta l
s ot hepr onunc iationofbot hoft hevowe l
s
hasc hange d( wewi lls ees e verals uc hwor dsi nt hel ist
).
Int e
r msofvoc abul ary,Engl ishi slikeapat c hwor k.I ti sami xtur e
of( mos tly)Mi ddl eFr enc h,Angl o-Sax on,Lat in,a ndGr e ek.Asar e s
-
ult,the rear eof tendi ffe rentwor dst oe xpr e sst hes a mei de a.Fore x-
ampl e,onedoe sn’ts pe akof“t ouc hyf eedba c k”butof“t actilef ee d-
bac k”,and notof“s me l
lys ystem”butof“ol fa ctor ys ystem”( t he
syst emi nt hebodyt hatpe rceive ss me ll
s).I fyoudos ome thi ngus ing
yourhands ,youdon’ tdoi t“handi ly”,youdoi t“ manua lly”,and
the“ gree n”e lectricityyouma ybeus ingdoe s n’tc omef rom “s unny
plant s”butf rom “s olarpl ant s”.
Thi spr oc essr esul tsi nanamountofvoc abul ar yt hati ss ome what
large rthanne cessar y.Thi si snotabadt hingp ers e;itaddss omee x-
pre ssivepowe rt oEngl isha nd make si tagood s tartingpoi ntf or
learni ng ot herEur ope an l anguage s.I nc ombi nat ion wi th Engl ish
pronunc iationa nds pe ll
ingpr obl ems ,thi sc an,howe ve r
,beahuge
nui sanc et ol earne r s,e spe ciallys inceEngl i
s hs pe l
lingofs uchwor ds
usuall
yrefle
ctstheoriginalspelli
nginthelanguageofor
igin,notits
contemporaryEnglishpr onunciati
on.
Eventhoughl earningEngl ishinge ne
ralrequir
esas ubst
antial
amountoft imeandde dicati
on,Ibe l
ievethataf
teryoufini
shr e
ad-
i
ngt hisbook,yous houldbea bletocopeatleastwit
halltheprob-
l
e msme nti
onedabove .Ihopet hatyouwi l
lalsoenj
oydoingso.

J
akubMar i
an
Be
rli
n,20
13
 PARTI
PART I: MISPRONOUNCED WORDS
 I.1 INTRODUCTION
Thischapterformst hec oreoft hisbook.Eve nthought hereare
r
ulesand patternsf orEngl i
sh pr onunc i
ati
on thatcan bel earned
(
thi
siswhate spec i
all
yPar tII
Ioft hi sbookisabout),t
he r
ear emany
wordswhosepr onunc i
ationha st
obel ear
nedbyhe art.
Inthefir
stpar tofthisbook,wes hallt
akeal ookatwor dswhi ch
ama j
orit
yofEngl is
hl earnerspronounc ewr onga tsomepoi ntin
t
heir“car
eer”asEngl is
hs peakers.Thewor dsareorde r
eds othatthe
mostcommonwor dscomef ir
st,t
hel eastcommonl ast.

Ifyoudon’tli
kele ngt
hyintroducti
ons,youcanski
ptot henext
s
e c
tionandsta
rtre
adingthewordsri
ghtaway(youwil
lpr
oba
blyd oj
ust
f
ine)
.Ifyo
uareint
ere
stedinba
sicconve
ntio
nsusedint
here
sto
fthisbo
ok,
j
ustreadf
urt
her
.

TheI PAt ranscriptionus edi nthisbooki sve rypr ec ise( iti sa l

-
wayswr itteni ns quar ebr acket s
);itdi st
ingui she s,fore xampl e[ e]
h
and[ ɛ],[a]a nd[ ɑ]e tc.Als o,[]de not esana spiratedc ons onant( a
consonantaf terwhi c has lights hadeof“h”i spr onounc e d);t hisis
r
usuallyignor e dbydi ctionar i
est omai nta i
ns impl i
city.[]i sus edf or
Brit
ishEngl is
handi spr onounc edas[ r]ifthef ollowi ngwor dbe gins
withavowe l.Shor t[i]a ft
er[ r]us uallys oundsmor elike[ ɪ],buti tis
tr
adi t
ionalt ode notei ta lsoas[ i],andt hisbookf oll
owst hi sc onve n-
ti
on.Thef ullIPAf orEngl ishi sde scribedi nPar tIII.
Ifyoua lreadyknow s omeI PA,r eadi ngt hebookma ya ctuallybe
agoodwa yt oma ste ritr eall
ywe l
l.Ifyoudon’ tknow anyI PA ye t
,
youc anr ead theps e udo-Engl i s
ht rans cription.I nor de rt odos o,
youwi l
lha vet or eme mbe rj ustfourI PAc hara cters;ther ests houl d
bepr onounc eda syouwoul di ntuitive l
ypr onounc eitasa nEngl ish
wor d.Thec haractersyouha vet or eme mbe rar e:
[ə] ispronounc
e das“a ”in“abook”(i
.e.astheindefini
teart-
icl
e).Itisa neut r
alsound,asifyou we rejustrele
a si
ng air
throughyourvoc a
lchords.I
fyousomet
ime sthi
nkthatthere’
san
“ə”us edinapl acewhe r
eyouwoul dexpe c
t“i”asin“pit ”(or
I
NTRODUCTI
ON 13

convers
ely)
,don’
twor
ry;t
hes
etwos
oundsar
eof
teni
nte
rchange-
able.
[æ] isasoundapproxi
matel
ybet ween“a”in“fat
he r
”and“e ”in
“bed”.Thesymbolisusedtoremi ndyouthatEnglish“a”(asi
n
“cat”=“kæt”,“bad”=“bæd”,“sad”=“s æd”etc.
)ispronounce
d
some whatdiff
erent
lythan you are usedfrom your mot her
tongue.
[ʌ] i
sthes
oundof“
u”i
n“but
”(bʌt)a
nd“
o”i
n“c
ome
”(kʌm)
.
[ð] i
sthesoundof“th”in“that”or“fat
her”.Itisproduc
edby
sayi
ng“d”butputti
ngt het
ipofyourtongueont hebackofyour
uppertee
thinst
eadofthefl
eshypartbehi
ndit.
The re are al so af e w gr oupsofl et
tersus edc onsistentlyint he
pseudo- Engl ishnot ation( butdon’ twor r
yaboutt he mt oomuc h; you
willr eme mbe rthe m nat ur all
yasyous t
artr eadingt hel is
t):“aw”i s
pronounc ed asi n“ law”,“oo”asi n“c ool”,“ oo”( itali
c i
sed)asi n
“good”( t
hes amea s“u”i n“ put ”),“ee”( i
talic
ised)i sus edt ode not e
thes ames oundasi n“s ee ”buts hort,and“oh”i sus e
dt ode note[ oʊ]
whi chishow Ame ricanspr onounc e“oh”;i nBr it
is hEngl ish,“oh”i s
pronounc eda s“əu”.
Theps e udo-Engl ish not ation us esdas he stodi videe ach wor d
int
os impl erpar ts,fore xa mpl e“pol ic
e”=“pə-lees”.Thes tress ed
parti sbol d( i
fthewor dismonos yll
abic,theni tma ybebol djus tt o
drawa ttentiontot hepr onunc iation).The separ tsof tenc orrespond
tothes yl
labl esoft hewor d,butt heydonoti ft hisc ouldl eadt oa
wrongpr onunc i
at i
on,s odon’ tpr onounc et heda s hesa sanyki ndof
paus e.Fore xampl e“r ecipe ”isde notedas“res-ip-ee”,a lt
hought he
syl
labl esar einfac t“re s-
i-pe e”,butt hiswoul dmi s l
eads omepe opl e
topr onounc ethe“ i”a s“aay”.
IftheAme ri
canpr onunc i
at i
ondi ff
ersf rom t heBr it
ishone ,t he
onej uste xplainedi smar ke dbyt hes ymbolUK orUS a ft
e rthegi ve n
pronunc i
ation.I fse veralvar iant saregi venbutne i
the roft het wo
symbol sispr esent,the nthe yar ea l
linus ebot hinBr it
ishEngl isha s
we l
la sinAme ri
c anEngl is h.
 I.2 WORDS YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD KNOW
Thi
ssec
tio
nc o
ntai
nswo r
dsthatar
ecommonineve
ryda
yspo
kenl
an-
gua
geands
houldbemast
ere
db ya
llEngl
is
hle
arne
rs.

height [
haɪt] (
haayt)
;thepronunciat
ion i
sasifitwe
rewr
itt
en
“hight
”.The“e ”isthe
rej
usttoconfusef
orei
gne
rs.

fruit [
fruːt] (
froot)
;a si
mil
ars
ituat
ion asi
nthepr
evi
ouswor
d;
s
impl yi gnorethe“i
”.

suit [
suːt](soot)
,intheUK a
lso[
sjuːt](
syoot)
;asi
nthec
aseof
“f
ruit
”,the“i”issi
lent
.

since [
sɪns](
sins)
;somepe ople,mi
sle
dbyt
he“e
”att
hee
nd,pr
o-
nouncethi
sworda s“saayns”.

ˈsʌthl] (
subtle [ sʌ-tl)UK,[
ˈsʌɾl] (
sʌ-
dl)US;
“bt
le”s
impl
ydoe
sn’
tsound
good.Don’ tpronounc et he“b”.

khjuː] (
queue [ kyoo)
;ifyouwanttopronouncethi
swordcorr
ect
ly,
jus
tthinkoft heQ att
hebe
ginni
ng;“ueue”isnotpr
onounc
edat
all
.

change [
tʃeɪndʒ](
tcheyndzh)
;thewor
dispr
onounc
ed wi
th“e
y”,
notwith“ æ”or“e ”.

həʊˈthɛl](
hotel [ həu-tel)UK,[hoʊˈthɛl](
hoh-tel)US;“hohoho ,te
llme
whyyouar enota thome ”iss ome thi
ngSant aCl auscoulda s
k
youi fyous t
a ye
di nahot elove rChr i
stmas .I
tismos tcert
ainl
y
nott here asonwhyi tiscall
ed“hot el”,butitwi l
lhopefull
yhe l
p
your e
me mbe rthatt hestres
si sa c
tuall
yont hes ec
onds yll
abl
e
(thereisnot[ tl]atthee nd)
.
WORDSYOU DEFINITELYSHOULD KNOW 15

recipe [ˈrɛsɪpi](
res-ip-ee)
;“cipe
”i nthiscasedoe
sn’
trhymewi
th
“r
ipe”; itconsi
stsoft wos e
paratesyl
labl
es.

iron [ ˈaɪən]( aay-ən)UK,[ ˈaɪɚn](aay-rn)US;t hi

swor di smi s
pro-
nounc edbyal mos t1 00% ofbegi
nningEngl i
shl earne rswhopr o-
nounc eitasaay-rən oraay-ron,butnoneoft hes epr onunc iat
ions
isc orrect.Thes amei struealsofor“i r
one d”[ ˈaɪənd]( aay-ənd)
UK, [ˈaɪɚnd]( aay-rn’d)US and“ironing”[ˈaɪənɪŋ]( aay-ə-ning)UK,
[ˈaɪɚnɪŋ]( aay-ər-ning)US.

ˈlɛtɪs](
lettuce [ ˈlɛɾɪs](
let-is)UK,[ led-is)US;r
eme mbe
rthatl
ett
uce
doesn’
tgr ow onas pr
uce
; andi talsodoe sn’
trhymewit
hit.

womb [ wuːm](woom) ,tomb [ thuːm](toom);peopletend t

opr o-
nounce“o”a sin“lot
”.Thinka bout“tomb”asabout“t o”
+“mb”.
“Mb”ma ysoundni c
ei nSwahi l
i,butnotsomuc hinEngl i
sh,so
the“b”i ssi
lent
.Thes amea ppl ie
stoallotherwor dsinwhi ch
“m”a nd“b”be l
ongt othesames yl
labl
e,sucha snumb [ nʌm]
(nʌm)andplumb [ phlʌm](
plʌm) .The“b”issi
lentevenin“num-
ber”whe ni
tme ans“mor enumb”andi n“plumber”.

comb [kəʊm](kəum)UK, [
koʊm](koh’m)US; t
hetoot
heddevi
ceused
forstyl
inghairispronounc ed withoutthe“b”attheend.Re-
me mbe r
:the“m”alr
e adylookslikeac omb,s
ono“ b”i
sneede
d.

bomb [ bɒm]( bom)UK, [bɑːm]( baam)US; aft

era l
ltheotherwords,i
t
shoul dn’tsurpriseyout hatthe“b”i ssi
lent.Thiswordi sper
haps
eve nmor econfusingthant heot hersi
nt hatitals
oe xis
tsinmost
othe rlanguage sinthes amewr itte
nfor m butwi t
ht he“b”pro-
nounc ed.Thes amepr onunc i
ation i
sus eda lsoforbombing
[ˈbɒmɪŋ]( bom-ing)UK,[ˈbɑːmɪŋ](baam-ing)US.

climb [klaɪm](
klaaym);a
sinthepr
evi
ouswords ,the“b”in“mb”i s
si
lent.Thisist rueal
sofor“cl
imbi
ng”[ˈklaɪmɪŋ](klaay-ming)
,
WORDSYOU DEFINITELYSHOULD KNOW 16

“c
limbe
d”[ ˈklaɪmd]( klaaymd)
,and “
cli
mbe
r ˈklaɪmər](
”[ klaay-
mə)UK,[
ˈklaɪmɚ]( klaay-mr)US.

comfortable [ ˈkhʌmfətəbəl] (
kʌm-fə-tə-bl) UK, i
n the US als
o
h ə
[ˈk ʌmftəb l](kʌm-ftə-bl)
;ifyou“c omef orat abl
e”toafurni
tur
e
shop,i twi l
lhope fullybec omfor
tabl e,a l
thoughitdoe
sn’
trhyme
wi t hi
t.

Greenwich [
ˈgrɛnɪtʃ](
gren-itch)or[ˈgrɪnɪdʒ](grin-idzh);youprob-
abl
y know thiswor dfrom t heGr ee nwich Me an Ti me( GMT)
st
andard.J
ustr eme mbe rt hatthe
r ei snogr ee nwi tc
hi nGreen-
wich.

elite [
ɪˈliːt](
ih-leet)
,someti
mesal
so[eɪˈliːt](
ey-leet)
;el
it
epeopl
eare
certainl ynota“ li
teve
rsi
on”oft
hepopul ati
on.Don’trhymethe
m
wi t
hi t.

END OF THE SAMPLE OF THIS SECTION

Thisistheendofthesampleofthisse
ction.Tocont
inuereadi
ng,
vi
sitt
hef oll
owingwebpage,whe r
eyouc ange tt
hefullbookasa
PDFfil
e,forKindl
e,orasapaperba
c k:

ht
tp:
//
jakubmar
ian.
com/
pronunc
iat
ion/

(
Thef
ullbooki
s112pag
esl
ong.
)
 I.3 WORDS YOU SHOULD PROBABLY KNOW
Thewordsi
nt hi
ssec
tio
na r
enotascommo nastheonesinthep
r evio
us
one
,buto
nc ey
our ea
chacert
ainle
veloff
luencyi
nEng li
sh,yo
uwi llinev-
i
tabl
yhav
et ousethemsoone
ro rl
ater
,soitisadvi
sab
letolearnthema s
wel
l.

dessert [dɪˈzɜːt](di-zə’ət)UK,[ dɪˈzɝːt](di-zərt)US i

sas weetcourse
thatc onc lude st heme al
.Don’ tc onfus ei twi t
h desert [
ˈdɛzət]
(de-zət)UK, [ˈdɛzɚt]( de-zrt)US whi c
hi sal argeareaofdryland.

veggie [
ˈvɛdʒi](vedzh-ee);i
nBriti
shEnglish,youcan“turnve ggi
e”,
fore xampl e,whi ch me ansthatyou be comea vege t
arian (
the
wor d“ve ggie”c anrefertoavegetari
aninge ne
ral
).Int heUS,the
wor di sus edmos tlyasa nadject
iveme aning“vegetable”.Any-
wa y,inallthesewor ds,“veg”ispronounce dwi
th[dʒ](dzh).

Arkansas [ˈɑːkənˌsɔː](aak-ən-saw)UK,[ ˈɑːrkənˌsɔː](aark-ən-saw)

US;thenameofoneoft heUSs tat
ess oundsl ikeas ymbolf ora
newr el
igiousmove ment:“arka nds a
w”.Howe ver,t
hisishow i t
isr
eall
ypr onounc ed.

schedule [ˈʃɛdjuːl](shed-yool)UK,[ˈskɛdʒuːl](skedzh-ool)US;Ia m
notsurewhi choft hetwovar iantsismor econfusi
ng.Anywa y,i
f
youlearnac e rtai
ndi al
ect,yous houlds ticktothepr onunciat
ion
usedinthatdi alect
.

houses [
ˈhaʊzɪz](
haauziz)
;thesingul
arf
orm,hous
e,i
spronounced
with[s]a ttheend:[haʊs](haaus)
.Theplur
alofi
t,however
,is
pronouncedwi th[z]
.

sword [
sɔːd](saw’d)UK,[sɔːrd](
saw’rd)US;the“w”iss i
lent,a
nd
t
hewor di spronouncedasi fi
twerewr i
tten“sor
d”.Howe ver
,it
i
snottruet hatin“sw”t he“w”woul dalwaysbesil
ent;forex-
WORDSYOU SHOULD PROBABLYKNOW 18

ample“ swan” i
s pr
onounc
ed[
swɒn] (
swonn) UK,[
swɑːn]
(swaan)US.

thesaurus [θɪˈsɔːrəs](thi-saw-rəs)i sused bylear ne

rsa nd nati
ve
speakers alike t os pi
ce up t he i
r wr i
ting with bet
ter-l
ooking
wor ds
.Thr eet hi ngsc a ngowr ongwi t
hi tspronunciati
on—t he
“the”att hebe ginning is[θɪ]( thi)
,not[ ðə](the)
,“au”i nthe
secondsyllablei s[ ɔː](
aw) ,andt he“s ”thatprecedesi
ti s[s]
,not
[z].

despicable [ dɪˈspɪkəbəl](dis-pik-ə-bl)
,r arelyal s
o[ ˈdɛspɪkəbəl](des-
pik-ə-bl)
;whe nyoude spise[ dɪˈspaɪz]( dis-paayz)s ome t
hing,you
find i t“de spicable”,whi chi spr onounc ed wi th[ k]f ors ome
ə
reas on.The wor d“ de spisable”[ dɪˈspaɪzəb l] (dis-paay-zə-bl)
(spe ll
edwi t
han“s ”)t he oreticall
ye xistsi nsomedi ctionaries,but
no- oner eall
yus esitinpr act
ice .

maple [ ˈmeɪpəl](mei-pl)
;you can makeamap ( mæp)outofi ts
wood,youc aneatanappl e(æ-pl)wi
thi
tssyrup,butdon’
tpro-
nounc ei
twi th[
æ].Byt heway,t
heword“syrup”ispronounc
ed
[ˈsɪrəp](si-rəp),
not“saay-rəp”.

owl [
aʊl](aaul)
;itmaybeas i
llyway,butifyoure
me mberthatan
owllooksl i
keʌ(OO)ʌ,i
twillper
hapshe l
pyour e
me mberthati
t
ispronouncedwi t
hsomethi
ngc l
oseto“ʌoo”.

END OF THE SAMPLE OF THIS SECTION

Thisistheendofthesampleofthisse
ction.Tocont
inuereadi
ng,
vi
sitt
hef oll
owingwebpage,whe r
eyouc ange tt
hefullbookasa
PDFfil
e,forKindl
e,orasapaperba
c k:

ht
tp:
//
jakubmar
ian.
com/
pronunc
iat
ion/
 I.4 WORDS THAT MIGHT BE USEFUL
Thissec
tio
nc ontai
nswo r
dsthatyouwil
lmostli
kel
ymeetj
usti
nwr i
t-
t
enfo r
m,butd e
pendingo nyourfi
el
do fi
nte
res
t,th
eymightbeus
efulas
well
.Youmightwa nttoski
ptothesec
ondparto
fthi
sbookdur
ingt
hefir
st
re
adingandret
urnt othi
ssec
tionl
ate
r.

albeit [ɔːlˈbiːɪt](aw’l-bee-it) t
hisfair
lyforma lwor d,me ani
ng“ al
-
t
hough”,i snotus edmuc hins peech,butiss ti
llquit
ec ommoni n
l
it
e r
at ur e.Onc eyour eme mberthatitisactua l
lyacombi nati
onof
t
hre ewor ds“a l
lbei t”,youwi llnolonge rha veanypr oble
m with
i
tscor re ctpr onunc i
ation.

ˈkhæviˌæt](
caveat [ kæv-ee-æt)or[ˈkhæviˌɑːt](
kæv-ee-aat),i
ntheUK
h
also[ˈk ævɛˌɑːt](kæ-ve-aat)
;me aning“ awar ning”,itisnots o
commoni ns pe ec
h,buts ti
llappearsinl iter
atureoroffi
c i
aldocu-
me nts.Jus
tr eme mberthatyouc an’teatac ave
at.Especi
allynotin
ac ave.

scythe [saɪð](
saayð)
;now,whe ntheDe at
hcomesf
oryou,youcan
tr
ytoc omplimenthim bysayi
ngwhatani c
esc
ythehehas.Ic
an-
notguaranteehewil
lletyougo,though.

Edinburgh [ ˈɛdɪnbərə]( ed-in-bə-rə)or[ ˈɛdɪnbrə](ed-in-brə)UK,

[ˈɛdənbʌrə](ed-ən-bʌ-rə) or[ˈɛdənbərə](ed-ən-bə-rə)US; thename
oft hecapitalofSc otlandi sknownwe l
le nought os l
ipi ntomany
othe rlanguage sin an a lmos tunc hange d wr it
tenform,buti ts
cor re
ctc ounter-i
ntuitivepr onunc iati
oni sus ua l
lyknownonl yto
nat i
ves peakers.

blessed (
adjec
tive
)[ ˈblɛsɪd](bles-id)
;whe n“ble
s s
ed”i st hepast
te
nseort hepastpar ti
cipleof“ bl
ess
”,itispronounce dasone
wouldexpect:[
blɛst](blest)
,butwhe niti
sana djec
tive,iti
spro-
nounce
dwi th“id”att hee nd,asi n“amome ntofbl es
s e
dc al
m”
or“bl
esse
dar ethepoor ”.
WORDSTHATMIGHTBEUSEFUL 20

ˈtæpəstri](
tapestry [ tæp-əs-tree)
;al
thoughrol
leduptape
str
iesr
e-
sembletapes,the irpronunc i
ati
ondoesn’
te nt
ve ry.

valet [ˈvæleɪ](væ-lei)or[ˈvælɪt](væ-lit),i
nt heUS al so[væˈleɪ](væ-
lei)i sa pe rs onalser
vant .Nott o be conf used wi th “walle
t”
[ˈwɒlɪt](
woll-it)UK,[
ˈwɑːlɪt](waa-lit)or[ˈwɔːlɪt](w’aw-lit)US whi
ch
isthel it
tl
ethi ngi nwhichweus ual lytr
ans por tmoney .

eerie [ ih-ə-ree)UK,[
ˈɪəri]( ˈɪri](
ih-ree)US i
sanadj
ect
iveme
ani
ng
“st
rangeandf right
ening”.

psoriasis [
səˈraɪəsɪs](sə-raay-ə-sis)isave
ryi
nconve
nie
nt,i
ncur
-
able,andnon- contagiouss ki
ndi sea
se.

ˈsɛntɔːr](
centaur [ sen-taw)UK,[ˈsɛntɔːr](sen-taw’r)US;halfman,
halfhorse—l egendsa boutthi
sc reatur earemanyc ent
uriesol
d.
Thiswillhope f
ullyhe lpyoureme mbe rthatthef irs
tlet
teri
spro-
nouncedas“ s”,notas“k”.

END OF THE SAMPLE OF THIS SECTION

Thisistheendofthesampleofthisse
ction.Tocont
inuereadi
ng,
vi
sitt
hef oll
owingwebpage,whe r
eyouc ange tt
hefullbookasa
PDFfil
e,forKindl
e,orasapaperba
c k:

ht
tp:
//
jakubmar
ian.
com/
pronunc
iat
ion/

(
Thef
ullbooki
s112pag
esl
ong.
)
 PARTI
I
PART II: COMMON ERROR PATTERNS
 II.1 INTERACTION WITH MOTHER TONGUE
Weallha veamot he rtonguewhi c
hfuncti
onsa saf il
terforwhat
soundswear ea blet odi st
ingui
sh.Whe nyoul earnaf orei
gnl an-
guage,youha vet ounde rst
andthatituse
sadi ff
erents etofsounds
anddi f
fer
entor thogr aphicrulesthanyourmot hert ongue( i
.e.the
samel e
tte
roral ett
e rgr oupwr i
tt
eni nadif
fere
ntl anguagema ybe
pronounceddi f
ferently).
Whatlear nersof tendoi sthattheyreadwor dsasi ft heywe re
writt
enint he i
rnat ivel anguage.He r
earethemos tc ommone rrors
ofthi
stype.

“au” inEng lishi sno tp ronounc eda s“aoo”;i ti sa lmos ta lwa yspro-
nounc ed as[ ɔː]( aw,a si n“ saw”) ;f ore xampl e“ aut o-”i spro-
nounc ed[ ɔːtə](aw-tə) ,asi nautobiography [ ˌɔːtəbaɪˈɒgrəfi](
aw-
tə-baay-ogg-rə-fee)UK,[ ˌɔːtəbaɪˈɑːgrəfi](
aw-tə-baay-aag-rə-fee)US
andautopsy [ ˈɔːtɒpsi](aw-top-see)UK, [
ˈɔːɾɑpsi]( aw-dap-see)US.

“ps” a ttheb eginningofawo rdi sno tprono unced“p+s ”;itispr o-

nounc edj usta s[s]
,s uchasi npsychology [ saɪˈkɒlədʒi](saay-
koll-ə-dzhee)UK,[ saɪˈkɑːlədʒi](saay-kaa-lə-dzhee)US orpseud-
onym [ ˈsuːdənɪm](soo-də-nim) ,int heUK a lso[ˈsjuːdənɪm](syoo-
də-nim) .

“eu” i
sno tpronounc e d“e oo”;unl ikepe rhapsi nal
lot herl
anguage s,
in English,iti spr onounc ed[ juː](yoo,mos tl
y UK)or[ uː]( oo,
mos t
lyUS) ,ands ome time sa lsos hort([jʊ]or[ʊ]).Exampl esin-
cludeEuclid [ juːˈklɪd](yoo-klid),pneumatic [ njuːˈmætɪk]( nyoo-
mæt-ik)UK,[ njuːˈmæɾɪk]( noo-mæ-dik)US,orneuron [ ˈnjʊərɒn]
(nyoo-ə-ron)UK ,[ ˈnʊrɑːn](noo-raan)US.

“pn” attheb egi

nningofawo r
disno tpro
nounc e
das“p+n”;i tispr o-
nounc edj ustas[n],e.g.pneumatic [ njuːˈmætɪk](
nyoo-mæt-ik)
UK, [njuːˈmæɾɪk] (
noo-mæ-dik) US,pneumonia [ njuːˈməʊniə]
(nyoo-məu-nee-ə)UK,[nuːˈmoʊniə](
noo-moh-nee-ə)US.
I
NTERACTI
ON WI
TH MOTHERTONGUE 23

“kn” a
ttheb egi
nningofawo r
di snotprono
unc e
das“k+n”;i
tispro-
nouncedj ustas[n]
,e .
g.know [ nəʊ](nəu)UK,[
noʊ](noh)US,
knee [
niː](nee)
,knife [
naɪf](
naayf).

“gn” attheb egi

nningofawo rdi snotpronounc
eda s“g +n”;i tis,asin
thepr e
vioust woc as
e s,pr onounc ed as[n],s uc hasi n gnome
[nəʊm]( nəum)UK,[ noʊm]( noh’m)US,a ndgnash [ næʃ]( næsh).
Thewor dgnocchi c anbepr onouncedaccordi ngt othisr uleas
[ˈnɒki](nokk-ee)UK,[ˈnjɑːki](nyaa-kee)US,buti tismor ec om-
mont opr onounceitas[ ˈɲɒki](ñokk-ee)UK,[ˈɲɑːki](ñaa-kee)US,
whe re“ ñ”r eprese
ntsas oftn,asi nSpanish( gn in French or
Itali
an).

“x” attheb egi

nningo fawo rdisnotpr ono unce
da s“ks ”;itispr o-
nounc ed as[z],fore xa mplexenophobia [ ˌzɛnəˈfəʊbiə](zen-ə-
fəu-bee-ə)UK,[ˌzɛnəˈfoʊbiə](
zen-ə-foh-bee-ə)US ( oneofs everal
possible pronunciati
ons )orXena [ ˈziːnə](zee-nə),a f i
ctional
character.

END OF THE SAMPLE

Thisisthee ndofthesampleofthi
sbook.Tocont
inuereadi
ng,
vi
sitt
hef ol
lowingwebpage ,wher
eyouc angett
hefullbookasa
PDFfil
e,forKindle
,orasapaperba
ck:

ht
tp:
//
jakubmar
ian.
com/
pronunc
iat
ion/

(
Thef
ullbooki
s112pag
esl
ong.
)