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
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