Hi everyone, in this lesson I want to talk to you about what I think is the most commonly
mispronounced word in the whole of the English language.
Lots of my work as an English teacher is spent correcting this word.
It's so often mispronounced.
The reason that so many people mispronounce this word is because, as is usual in English,
so often our spelling doesn't match the pronunciation of words, so there's often a big gap between
how we say a word and how it's written on a page.
And a lot of native - non-native speakers don't know that, which is why they pronounce
words in the way they're spelt, and this results in them sounding wrong a lot of the time.
So, the word that I think is the most mispronounced word in the whole English language is really
simple, it's only four letters long, it is the word "work".
So, there's an important reason that this word gets mispronounced.
If you have a look at that spelling there, you would think it sounds something like "woock",
that's what it looks like, it's spelt with the letter "o", but it's really important
to realize that there is no "o" sound at all in that word.
The vowel inside the word is called the mid-central unrounded vowel, and I know that's a really
stupid name that's hard to remember, but anyway, essentially, this vowel is the one that's
right in the middle, it's not high, it's not low, it's not back, it's not forward, and
it's made in the same place as a schwa sound "uh", but it's just a long sound.
So, it's the same thing, really, except a stressed version, and it sounds like this:
"uh".
Also, if you look at my lip shape here, "uh" is quite neutral, "uh" is not wide, it's not
rounded or anything like that, so I'm just saying "uh".
So, let's go back to that word that so many people mispronounce when they speak English.
The word is "wuhk".
Now, let's expand your vocabulary a bit by learning some words with the word "work" in
them.
First of all, we've got "artwork".
You put your artwork on the wall, you paint a picture, there you go, stick it all the
wall or sell it to a rich millionaire.
Number two is "paperwork".
Paperwork is all that stuff you have to do, form filling in, box ticking to do with your
job or perhaps if you buy something really expensive, like a car, you have to fill in
the paperwork before you can take the car home.
Number three, a "workshop" is a place where there are industrial tools for making things
like saws and drills or machines for working with metal and, in a workshop, you can make
things like items of furniture.
Now, let's practice some example phrases with the word "work" and related word forms.
So, are you working this weekend?
I think I'm going to be late for work.
Its hard work being in English teacher.
Is it worth going to work today?
Where do you work?
Oh right, that's really interesting.
No, I don't work in an office.
I work from home.
Oh, the trains are cancelled, how am I going to get to work now?
Most people have to work to pay the bills.
I'm really sorry, but I don't think this is working.
I've been working here for about ten months now, I think.
Learning English pronunciation is hard work, unfortunately.
I'd really love to come bowling this evening, but I can't, because I'm working until 21:00.
Okay, and last of all, when a word is commonly mispronounced in English, like the word "work",
it usually has friends which are also mispronounced, and these friends share the same spelling
pattern and pronunciation pattern, so here are a few words which, like "work", have that
"uh" vowel in them, so they are: worm, worse, world, worth.
If you can think of any other words which have that "wo" spelling pattern and are pronounced
with the "uh" vowel, you can go ahead and write them in the comments section below,
and one more thing, I would like you to go over to the www.engvid.com website now, so
you can do the quiz on this lesson.
I'll see you next time, bye!