Hi guys, my name's Max and today I thought I'd just do a short tutorial on
words that have strange pronunciations.
These words aren't necessarily physically difficult to say. Whether you find the word difficult to pronounce or not
normally depends on your own native language.
No, these are words that have strange spellings.
In other words, they look very different to the way they are said.
Even native speakers often find these words somewhat weird.
I'm not going to go into the reasons why these words are spelled the way they are.
I'm not going to talk about etymology.
But if you want to know more you can always use Google or a dictionary.
I should also point out that I have an Australian accent,
so my pronunciation is quite close to British pronunciation.
If you want to hear the American pronunciation, I recommend that you go onto a website
like thefreedictionary.com where you can get audio files for most words.
But in any case the American pronunciation of these words isn't that different -
it's not drastically different.
OK! The first word is "rhythm".
I'm sure most of you know what this means.
It's basically the pattern in sounds, so the pattern in music, for example.
This is quite a strange word because the "h" after the "r" is silent,
and there's also no vowel between the "th" and the "m".
However, we do put a vowel in there when we say it. We say "rhth-em". Rhythm.
The second word is "haphazard".
You might not know this word because it's not a word that we use every day.
It's a word used to describe something that lacks order or planning, or is random.
It is a bit of a strange word because normally "ph" is pronounced "f".
But this word is not pronounced "haf-azard", this is "haphazard"
Number three.
How would you pronounce this?
No, it is not "shep-herd" like "hap-hazard".
And it's not "sheferd" either.
This word is "shepherd".
If you don't know what this means, it's the person who looks after sheep.
Number four is "choir".
A choir is an organised group of singers.
Churches often have choirs, schools often have choirs.
I was in my choir at school.
I don't think they were very selective.
But, in any case, this word is "choir".
The next word is "guarantee". A guarantee is like a promise or an assurance.
It can also be a verb, so you could say to somebody:
"I guarantee that you'll have fun at the football game."
I highly doubt it, but to each his own.
This word is not pronounced "gwarantee".
It is "guarantee".
The next word is "vacuum".
Bloody hell. I know this word is Latin, but seriously, two "u"s, a double "u" in an English word is just weird.
It's weird.
Vaccum.
The last word is "sieve".
What is a sieve?
This is a sieve. A sieve is a utensil made of metal or plastic, sometimes wood, with holes in it
either to make a substance smoother or perhaps to separate liquids from solids.
They also use them in chemistry and things like that.
This word is not pronounced "see-ev" or" "seeve".
Yes, this word is "sieve".
That's all for today, guys. If you liked this video, you can give me a thumbs up.
If not, that's fine. And if you want to see more videos you can click on this link right here.
I have some vocabulary videos some on pronunciation, grammar, etc.
And if you have any comments or questions you can, as usual, write them down below in the comments section.
See ya later!