10 Often Mispronounced English words and phrases

These 10 often mispronounced English words and phrases caught my eye and I thought they would be useful. I have included some notes to help you to pronounce these English words and phrases.

Mispronounced  English Word 1

It’s not :antartic             It’s: antarctic

You need to keep the ‘c’ sound in before the /t/. Slow down and practise ‘ant arc’ ( a place for ants to float around in!) and then add ‘tic’

For the British and Australian speakers it’s a double consonant blend   ‘ct’. and for the American English speakers its a triple ‘rct’.

Mispronounced  English Word 2

It’s not : athelete; atheletic               It’s: athlete; athletic

The correct English pronunciation only has 2 syllables which means your mouth needs to practise the consonant blend ‘thl’ with no vowel in between the ‘th’ and /l/.

Mispronounced  English Phrase 3

It’s not: a blessing in the skies           It’s: a blessing in disguise

Meaning: an apparent misfortune that eventually has good results. ( the good result was disguised by the apparent misfortune)

Mispronounced  English Word 4

It’s not: cannidate                       It’s: candidate

Don’t drop the /d/.Think of it like a compound word ‘candy’ and then ‘date’  ‘candydate’. Be careful though the ‘y’  says short ‘i’ not long  ‘ee’.

Mispronounced  English Word 5

It’s not: fillum                         It’s: film

There’s no vowel between the /l/ and /m/, and the /l/ is a dark /l/. It’s the same idea for words ending in ple, ble, cle etc.

It’s not ‘peopool’ but people – straight from /p/ to /l/.    It’s not ‘tabool’ but table – no vowel between the /b/ and /l/.     It’s not ‘bicycool’ but bicycle – straight from ‘c’ to /l/.

Mispronounced  English Phrase 6

It’s not: for all intensive purposes        It’s: for all intents and purposes

Meaning: something that is intended; purpose; design; intention. In every practical sense ( of the situation or words etc).  For example: The book is, to all intents and purposes, a duplication of earlier efforts.

Mispronounced  English Word 7

It’s not: libary                       It’s: library

You have to get your mouth around a word that has an /l/ and 2 /r/ sounds, and includes the /br/ consonant blend. The ‘a’ in the second syllable is the week vowel said as a schwa sound ( very short quick ‘u’ sound).

Mispronounced  English Word 8

It’s not: nuccular          It’s: nuclear

British and and Australian pronunciation: ˈnjuːklɪə

American pronunciation: ˈnukliər

Mispronounced  English Word 9

It’s not: pronounciation                It’s: pronunciation

The vowel in the 2nd syllable is said as an ‘u’ not an ‘ou’.

Mispronounced  English Word 10

It’s not: suit ( you wear this)                It’s: suite (sweet)

A lounge suite; a living room suite; an office suite of rooms; a suite in music (an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral/concert band pieces).

Obviously there are more often, mispronounced English words and phrases but these are a good start.

If you have a particular word you’re finding difficult to pronounce, please feel free to email me or write it in the comments below and I’ll help you with it.

Best wishes, Esther