Hi friends, I am Niharika and welcome back to a new lesson. Well English as a language
is made up of thousands and lakhs of words, am I right? And then there are certain words
which are mispronounced not by the English learners but also by English native speakers.
So this happens because there are various accents that people talk with and also they
just pronounce words incorrectly but that's unintentionally. So in today's lesson I have
around 12 words for you which are commonly mispronounced. We're gonna look at the Spelling's
and we are gonna look at the correct pronunciation.
So let's have a look at the first word which is ‘almond’. Well the dry fruit. The healthy
dry fruit that you should eat every morning. People usually tend to pronounce it as ‘al-mond’
but that is incorrect. The correct pronunciation of this dry fruit is ‘ah-mund’. So in
this word the letter ‘L’ is silent and the correct pronunciation is ‘ah-mund’.
I eat almonds every morning, okay? So that's how you’re supposed to pronounce this word.
Let's move on to another word which is commonly mispronounced ‘dengue’. Now dengue is
the mosquito-borne disease. It's very annoying because people end up having high fever, they
also suffer from severe body ache and it's quite disturbing. So this disease is pronounced
as dengue. Very commonly people pronounce it as ‘dengoo’ but that's incorrect. The
correct pronunciation is ‘den-gee’ and not dengoo, okay? So the next time you come
across someone who is suffering from this mosquito-borne disease and you're gonna say,
“Oh no! She has dengue.” Okay?
Let's move on to another word which is quite tricky. Many of us do get confused when we
end up reading it, we just don't know how to exactly pronounce it. So it's ‘lingerie’.
Now there are two ways of pronouncing this word, one is the way the Brits do it and the
other is the American way. So first let's look at the British way, we gonna divide this
word into part, now this is how the Brits pronounce its ‘lon-zuh-rie’, okay? Whereas
the Americans pronounce it as lingerie. So it goes like this ‘lawn-zuh-ray’, okay?
So these are the two pronunciations so please don't get confused, it's not ‘lin-ga-ri’.
Many people do get confused it is either ‘lawn-zuh-ray’ or it's ‘lon-zuh-rie’, okay? That's the
innerwear for all the women. All right?
Let's move on to another word which is ‘February’, the second month of the year. Now many people
drop the letter ‘R’ and they pronounce it as ‘Febuary’, that's incorrect. So
make sure that you do pronounce the letter ‘R’. I know this month, pronouncing this
month is a little tricky, okay? People just fumble and people end up saying ‘Febuary’
but it's not ‘Febuary’ it is February. So make sure that you add the letter R means
you pronounce the letter R when you're saying this word, okay?
Let's move on to another word which is ‘Wednesday’. Hmm you thought you got this right? Many people
especially kids, when we learn the days of the week, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday… Well
don't go with the spelling. This is the spelling of the word Wednesday however the way you
pronounce this is ‘Wens-day’, okay? So when you ask the question ‘when’ okay,
that's how it's pronounced, ‘Wens-day’ and not ‘Wed-nes-day’, all right?
Let's move on to another common word which is mispronounced by many of us which is ‘Arctic’.
Now people end up dropping the letter ‘C’. The cold, the extremely cold region. People
end up saying, Ah! The ‘Artic’ region or the ‘Artic’ region is so cold, it's
extremely cold weather that people face. But it is not a ‘artic’, you need to add or
you need to pronounce the letter ‘C’ here. So the way people pronounce it ‘artic’
that's incorrect. The correct pronunciation is by pronouncing the letter ‘C’ here
which is ‘Arctic’, okay? So it's ‘Arctic’ region, alright?
Let's move on to another word which is ‘espresso’. Yes, the strong black coffee that totally
energizes you. So many people say I would like to have an ‘expresso’ shot. But it's
not ‘expresso’ it is ‘espresso’. Where does the X come from? It is pronounced just
the way it is written. So it is ‘es’, so you will pronounce it as ‘espresso’.
I would like to have a shot of espresso and not expresso, okay?
Let's move on to another word which is ‘Plumber’. Who is a plumber? The one who fixes your pipes,
the sewage tanks, the drainage… Yes, he's quite an important man so it's important for
you to pronounce this word correctly too so it's not ‘plum-ber’ but it is plumber.
So here again the letter ‘B’ is silent. So the correct pronunciation is ‘plumer’.
Though it is spelled with the letter ‘B’, however the way you pronounce it, it's ‘plumer’,
okay?
Let's move on to another word which is ‘debris’. Well what is debris? Debris is the rubbish,
the scattered pieces of rubbish. So now if you look at the spelling you see the letter
‘S’ and then you wonder that why am I not pronouncing the letter S? Because here
the letter ‘S’ goes silent, okay? You need not pronounce the letter ‘S’ here.
And the correct pronunciation of this word would be ‘deb-ree’, okay? And it's not
‘deb-ris’, that's how people pronounce it. But that's incorrect, okay?
Let's move on to another word which is ‘sour’. “This lemon is so sour.” Yes, so when
you talk about sour, many people pronounce it as ‘sar’. Mmm that's so ‘sar’.
But that's incorrect too. The correct pronunciation is ‘sour’. Like the word ‘power’ so
it rhymes with the word ‘power’, so it's ‘sour’ that's how you pronounce this word,
okay?
Let's move on to another word which is ‘coupon’. Now many people pronounce it as ‘cu-pn’,
that's incorrect. It's not ‘cu-pn’ but it is ‘cu-pawn’ so it goes like this,
okay? Just the way you pronounce the word ‘lawn’, so it rhymes with the word ‘lawn’.
So it goes like ‘pawn’. Okay, so it's ‘coupon’, okay the discount vouchers,
yes, we all love to receive or to have coupons, right? It saves money. So it's not ‘cu-pn’,
okay? It's not ‘cu-pn’, that's incorrect the correct pronunciation is ‘cu-pawn’,
okay? I would love to have some coupons.
And then the last one is the delicious ‘pizza’. Yes, many people pronounce it as ‘piza’
and that's incorrect. “I would like to have some margherita cheese pizza.” So the correct
pronunciation is not ‘piza’ but it is ‘peet-zah’ okay? ‘peet-zah’ so here
the ‘peet’ will be rhyming with ‘wheat’. So it rhymes with the word ‘wheat’ and
then you say ‘peet’. So it's ‘peet-zah’, alright? That's the correct pronunciation.
So these are the twelve words which are commonly mispronounced. The best way to learn them
is keep practicing. And I'll be back with a new lesson soon, till then you take care.