50 Words You're Pronouncing WRONGLY Right Now! | Top 50 Mispronounced English Words, Common Mistakes
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Published 2017-06-18
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Transcript:
Hello, and welcome back. In
this lesson, I will show you
fifty words that you are
probably pronouncing
incorrectly right now. And I’ll
also teach you how to say them
correctly.
Let’s start with this word –
how do you say it? Well, we say
/prə-’nauns/, /prə-’naunst/ and
/prə-’nauns-iŋ/, but /prə-nən-
si-’eɪ-shən/. There’s no ‘noun’
in this word. It’s
‘pronunciation.’
Word number two is ‘says’. This
word is commonly mispronounced
by people learning English as
/s eɪs/. But remember: I say,
you say, but he or she /sez/.
Number three is ‘et cetera’. A
very common incorrect
pronunciation is to say ‘ek’ –
‘ek setra’ instead of ‘et’.
Don’t say that. And also
remember that the stress is on
‘ce’. So the word is /et-’se-
tə-rə/. You will also hear
/et-’se-trə/ – that is less
common but it’s OK too.
Next up is ‘often’. Some
pronounce this as /’äf-tən/.
Now, strictly speaking, /’äf-
tən/ is not wrong, but the more
common pronunciation is with
the ‘t’ silent, so I recommend
that you always say /’ä-fən/.
One word that is often
mispronounced by learners of
English is ‘women’. This is, of
course, because of the English
language’s crazy spelling
system. But remember that we
say /’wu-mən/ for one woman and
/’wi-min/ for the plural –
/’wi-min/.
Word number six is ‘police’.
This isn’t /po-lees/ or /po-
lis/. It’s /pə/ and /lees/ with
the stress on /lees/. So
/pə-’lees/.
The next word is ‘vehicle’.
It’s often pronounced wrongly
as /ve-hi-kl/. But the ‘e’ is a
long vowel and the ‘h’ is
silent. So /’vee-ə-kl/.
Number eight is this word. How
would you say it? The correct
pronunciation is /’zhän-rə/. Pay
attention to the first sound,
it’s like ‘sh’ but you put your
voice into it - /’zhän-rə/.
/’zhän-rə/
Next up is actually what you’re
watching right now – ‘video’.
The important thing is that
both the ‘i’ and the ‘e’ are
pronounced as short ‘i’ sounds.
It’s not /vee-di-o/, it’s
/’vi-di-o/.
If you watch a video on YouTube
or Facebook, you might leave a
‘comment’. I have heard many
speakers say /’kə-ment/. Now
whether you use this word as a
noun or a verb, the first
syllable is always /’kä /. So
it’s never a /’kə-ment/, it’s a
/’kä-ment/.
Word number eleven is
‘interesting’. This is
mispronounced sometimes as
/’in-tə-rə-stiŋ/. But there are
only three syllables – /in / –
/trə / – /stiŋ/ and the stress
is on ‘IN’. So the word is
/’in-trə-stiŋ/.
Number twelve is ‘hotel’. There
are two syllables – /ho/ and /
tel/ like the English word
‘tell’ as in ‘tell me’. The
stress is on the second
syllable, so /ho-’tel/.
A related word is ‘suite’. This
means a set of connected rooms
in a hotel and this is wrongly
pronounced by many people as
/soot/. But it’s /sweet/ - like
when you eat a piece of candy -
/sweet/.
While we’re on the topic of
suites and hotels, I cannot
leave out this word –
‘restaurant’. It gives a lot of
English learners trouble. But,
don’t let the fancy spelling
confuse you – the second
syllable is just /tə /. The
third is /ränt/. So /’res-tə-
ränt/. In British English, you
might hear just two syllables –
/’res-trɒnt/ - that is also
correct.
After you eat at a restaurant,
you have to pay the bill. But
you might get a discount on
your bill if you have one of
these – a ‘coupon’. A common
incorrect pronunciation is
/’koo-pən/. But the second
syllable should be /pän/. So –
/’koo-pän/.
Here’s word number sixteen –
how would you say it? The
proper pronunciation is not
‘break’ ‘fast’ – it’s
‘breakfast’. /brek / with a
short /e/ sound and /fəst/ with
an /ə/ sound - so /’brek-fəst/.
You know what I had for
breakfast today? I had this –
‘pizza’. Really, I did. It’s
not a /pee-sə/ and it’s not a
/peed-zə/. There’s no /z/ sound
in this word. It’s /peet/, /sə/
- /’peet-sə/.
Another food word that’s
mispronounced a lot is
‘vegetable’. It’s not /ve-jə-
tə-bl/. If you say it correctly,
there are only three syllables
- /vej/, / tə/, /bl/ - /’vej-
tə-bl/.
Let’s talk about a couple of
vegetables now – this is a
‘cucumber’. It’s not a /ku-
koom-bər/. Think of it like
saying the letter ‘Q’ and then
/kəm-bər/ like ‘number’. So
/’kyoo-kəm-bər/.
This vegetable is called
‘lettuce’. I know the spelling
looks like /let-yoos/ but it’s
not – it’s /letis/.
And since we talking about
food, here’s a food that just
about everybody loves –
‘chocolate’. When you ask for
this at the store, make sure
there are only two syllables –
/chäk / and /lət/ - /’chäk-lət/.
And remember: there is no
‘late’ in ‘chocolate’.
Speaking of chocolate, how
would you say this word? This
is ‘dessert’.
All Comments (21)
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A clarification about the word singer: that sound in "singer" is neither an "n" nor a "g". It's a separate phonetic entity - /ŋ/ - the same "ng" sound as in "ring". My aim in this video was to contrast it with "finger" in which there is both a /ŋ/ (ng) sound and a "g" sound. Many ESL learners say "singer" like "finger". Compare: Finger - /ˈfɪŋ.ɡər/ - both /ŋ/ and /g/ are enunciated. Listen here: www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/finger Singer - /ˈsɪŋ.ər/ - only /ŋ/ is enunciated (there is no /g/ sound). Listen here: www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/singer
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Hello! I am a native English speaker, but I watched the video anyway out of curiosity. Many native English speakers also mispronounce the same words, so I’m sure your video is extremely helpful! By the way, if you are NOT a native English-speaking American, then I must complement you – your English is absolutely fantastic!
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Even our teachers don't know these 😮😮😮😮
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American English : tu-wi-shaen British English : tyu-wi-shaen Indian English : Two-shen
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Hey you made me realise that I was pronouncing half of the English wrong and I used to think that I speak correst more than anyone in my class
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My grand mother also says chaklet😂 to chocolate we thought she is pronouncing wrong but now I appreciate her😂😅😅😂😂😂😂😂😂
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As a native english speaker. I don't mispronounce any of these words. I've heard people who do however I do not. Great teaching video for non native speakers!
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As a native english speaker, most of us need this video ourselves!
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This man is the whole dictionary 😂❤❤
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I love how he linked the words. That is art right there.
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As a filipino, i would say indian accent with a mix of american accent is probably the most beautiful thing id ever hear. Love from the philippines! ❤
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I've pronunced wrongly almost half of them...😭 Thank you so much for teaching us the correct pronunciation ! Wish I could go to ESL and have a teacher like you. You made my day❣️
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Absolutely flawless English lesson. Excellent job. I was a career EFL teacher, and to everyone who's reading this I highly recommend this guy's videos.
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I don't know how I ended up here, but as a native English speaker I can confirm that this is all correct and very well explained! (P.S our language is weird, sorry about that.)
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i speak fluent english, i grew up in america, i don't know any other language. why am i here, then? his voice is relaxing.
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Who was pronouncing while watching 😁😁
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Damn, those lucky students who get him as their teacher ... The best English teacher I've ever seen. Kudos man, highly appreciate that
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Hey there, I hope you enjoyed this lesson. Let me know if you have any questions. Also check out: ➜ 1 Simple Trick to Become FLUENT in English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0qT4cK-wtk&list=PLmwr9polMHwsI6vWZkm3W_VE7cWtYVjix ➜ Most Common MISTAKES in English & How to Avoid Them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dax90QyXgI&list=PLmwr9polMHwsR35rD9spEhjFUFa7QblF9 ➜ POWER Writing - Write ANYTHING in English Easily (Essays, Emails, Letters Etc.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT_D68RJ5T8&list=PLmwr9polMHwtPulG3q4SrSNIZzlJl2gXf ➜ 100 English Sentences You Can Use in Conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dRuy1VLCiQ&list=PLmwr9polMHwsI6vWZkm3W_VE7cWtYVjix ➜ Learn TELEPHONE English - 100 Sentences You Can Use on the Phone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkppeSjRj0E&list=PLmwr9polMHwsI6vWZkm3W_VE7cWtYVjix ➜ Speak English FLUENTLY like a NATIVE SPEAKER with just 10 words: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KU2eobDMqs&list=PLmwr9polMHwsI6vWZkm3W_VE7cWtYVjix ➜ All GRAMMAR lessons: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmwr9polMHwsR35rD9spEhj… ➜ All MODAL VERBS Lessons (Could, Would, Should, May, Might, Must etc.): youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmwr9polMHwvGTssgSU9KWE… ➜ All PARTS OF SPEECH lessons: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmwr9polMHwsQmAjoAxtFvw… ➜ All ARTICLES (a, an, the) lessons: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmwr9polMHwsbkqz6kU5e6M… ➜ All PRONUNCIATION lessons: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmwr9polMHwtOrZVwGuiN8x… ➜ All TENSES lessons: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmwr9polMHwsRNZW607CtVZ…
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I've worked on pronunciation hard these days and many foreigners who from English speaking countries gave me a nice expression on my pronunciation. I had a confidence I should have known most of them. That said, I found I made a heap of mistakes before I watched this video. Extraordinarily informative video. This vid comprehended some pronunciation vids I'd have watched. ・Comment(Stress is on 2nd) ・says(sez) ・desert(Stress should be on 2nd when you mention sweets) ・Plumber(Don't EVER pronounce B sound) ・Tomb(Toom) ・Bury(Beri) ・Zoology(zo not zwo)
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I am Indian living in Canada and i can relate to every words he said. 100% right✌️! Thanks man