Feb-brew-ary? Feb-u-ary? Feb-brewwww-ary? February? Which one, or both? I guess we'll
find out.
Hey everyone, I'm Alex, thanks for clicking and welcome to this lesson on English words
that some English speakers don't pronounce correctly. So today, I'm going to be looking
at fifteen words that are sometimes mispronounced by native English speakers. If you mispronounce
some of these words, you don't have to worry too much. People probably understand what
you're saying, what you mean. What is in common use often trumps what is actually grammatically
correct. But I'm still going to tell you the dictionary pronunciation of fifteen words.
So, we're going to start at the top with a word that I was mispronouncing for years and
years and years. I'm a big fan of the Castlevania franchise of video games, and one of the characters
that you fight in that game is Death, and Death carries this thing, and for the longest
time, I kept calling this thing, the farmers use to cut down wheat: "skythe"... like, "skythe...
sythe, what is it?" Well, I was mispronouncing it for like ten years before I looked at a
pronunciation guide and learned it's actually a scythe. So this is pronounced "sigh-th".
I've put the IPA spelling of all the words we're going to look at today for those of
you who are learning English as a second language and are familiar reading with the IPA alphabet
as well. So, just repeat after me: "sigh-th". [pause] And the end is a hard TH, the "TH"
not "th", TH, like a motorcycle [vroom]. So, say it with me one more time: "sigh-th", [pause]
okay. So, the C is silent, it's not "sk", it's just "sigh-th".
Next, this word is commonly mispronounced as "art-ic" and if you're saying it very fast,
but don't forget that there is a C in that word. Unlike here, where it's silent, here
you typically have to pronounce the C, so the proper pronunciation is "ark-tic", [pause]
repeat it one more time, "ark-tic", [pause] so make sure you get that middle "k" sound:
ark-tic [k, k], okay. Again, like I said, if you say "artic", people will understand
what you mean. If you want to be exact, correct, dictionary precise, grammatically perfect
pronunciation, make sure you say "arktic" with the "k k", okay?
Next, so, this word is often mispronounced as "cal-vary" okay. Now, this word is actually
pronounced "ca-vul-ree". Let's try: ca-vul-ree. The
cavalry refers to a military unit, you know, the military soldiers, obviously military
soldiers as opposed to other soldiers, the soldiers who go on horseback, who ride on
horseback. So, the cavalry. [pause] Ca-vul-ree. Okay, we're okay? Good.
Next, the next two have the same mispronunciation problem, so we have "escape", "especially".
So, not "ex-scape", not "ex-specially", okay, so some people pronounce it like an "X", "ex-scape",
"ex-pecially", it's not an X, it's "s" "escape". So, try with just "sss", the "S", not "X".
Escape. [pause] Especially. [pause] Es-special-ly.
Okay, next, foliage, so this refers to the leafy part of a plant or a tree. The foliage,
the leaves or foliage. The common mispronunciation, some people say the "foil-age", so it is pronounced
just like it's spelled: fo-li-age. And the IPA: fo-li-idge. So repeat after me: fo-li-age.
[pause] The forest has a lot of beautiful foliage.
Okay, so this one, it's not a super common word in daily conversation, so I understand
why people don't pronounce it correctly. When some people see this word, they say "high-archy",
like "high-archy". You're forgetting the "r", so it's actually "high-er-archy". So, if you
say it quickly, it's "hierarchy". [pause] Similar to saying "Higher-archy", you can
say it like that, think about it like that. "hi-er-arch-y". A higher-archy, not a high-archy,
but high-er-arch-y. So 'rar rar', there's the 'rar rar'. [Laughs] Now I'm having trouble.
"Hi-er-arch-y". "rar", the "rar".
The next word is interpret. A common mispronunciation of this one is "interpretate". I don't know
where that comes from, but I've heard it, I've seen it, it's not interpretate, that
is not a word, the word is interpret, and the IPA: in-ter-pret. [pause] Let's repeat
it one more time: "in-ter-pret". [pause] Good, like an interpreter, right?
Okay, next, I think you know the common mispronunciation here if you are an English speaker, you have
been told this since you were five years old. It's not "lie-berry", it's "library", alright?
"Library". Don't forget the "R" here, the first "R". Library, [pause] or li-bra-ry,
or some people just say "lie-bry", "lie-bry" if you say it really fast. "I'm going to the
"lie-bry". But really, it's "li-bra-ry". And again, if you say "lie-berry", you know, somebody
might correct you, or people night not care because they also pronounce it as "lie-berry",
although the proper pronunciation, you should be remembering that "R": library, library,
library, library, now you try: "li-bra-ry". [pause]
Okay, let's continue. We have not "mini-chur", but "mini-a-ture". Mini-a, there's an "A"
in there, an "ah" in there, so "mini-a-ture", [pause] okay? A miniature toy, a miniature
soldier, we're talking about military, so like, toys, so miniature. [pause] "Min-i-a-ture".
[pause] And again, if you say "mini-chur", it's not a huge mistake. "Interpretate", that's
a mistake. That word doesn't exist. But if you say "mini-chur", it's not a huge end-of-the-world
mistake. People understand you, but please know the proper pronunciation should be "mini-a-ture".
Next, "prescription", prescription, not "per-scription", but "pre-scription", so let's repeat it after
me: "pre-script-ion". [pause] So, after you visit the doctor, he gives you some medicine,
you know, a note saying go to the pharmacy and show them this prescription. [pause] Good.
Next, so, "sher-bit". [pause] What? Repeat one more time: "sher-bit". Not "sher-bert".
A sherbet is a frozen treat usually made with fruit, there's some milk in there, it's - I'm
not going to say it's similar to ice cream because it doesn't have cream really, it has
some milk, but "sher-bit". [pause] I love strawberry sherbet, or orange sherbet. I've
eaten a lot of orange sherbet this week, it's delicious, okay.
Next, hm. Feb-brew-ary? Feb-you-ary? Feb-bee-wary? Well, it's not Feb-bee-wary, I can tell you
that. So, two commonly accepted pronunciations for this month of the year: "Feb-bru-ery"
or "Feb-you-ery". If you say "Feb-you-ary" no one's going to say anything to you, okay?
It's like saying "Tuesday" or "Toosday", people are okay with both, really, unless they're
jerks and they say "No, it's not Tuesday, it's "Toosday". The people who say "Toosday",
I'm not a fan of those, okay. So, getting back to February, forget about Tuesday, it's
not even here, that's a bonus word. So, "Feb-bru-ery" or "Feb-you-ery". I think the "Feb-you" is
way easier, so let's just repeat after me: "Feb-you-ary" [pause] "Feb-bru-ery". [pause]
Good.
Next, utmost. So, the common mispronunciation here again, it's not a mispronunciation, it's
similar to interpret when people think of a different word, and they say "upmost", you
know, the upmost reason. So "utmost" means the greatest, or to the highest degree, okay?
I have the utmost respect for you. The highest degree, the highest respect for you. So just
repeat after me, make sure you say "t". "Ut-most" [pause] "Ut-most". [pause] Okay, good. And
this one is a very Canadian kind of sound, the short "uh", its why people laugh about
Canadians saying "ah-boot", it's actually "about".
And finally, this is a word I have mispronounced for many years, and I work for this site.
It's kind of weird. I used to say "Ang-vid". I always pronounced the E as an "Ang-vid"
for some reason, it's "eng-vid", just like "Eng-lish". Why did I say "Ang-vid"? If you
can find some of my earlier videos from like 2010, 2011, probably 2012, you'll hear me
say "Ang-vid", not "Eng-Vid", so the proper pronunciation of our website is "eng-vid"
[pause]. Perfect.
Alright, speaking of engVid, if you want to test your understanding of the pronunciation
here, I will have a quiz for this lesson. What will you do? I guess you'll find out
when you go to www.engvid.com , check out the quiz, and while you're there, check out
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Alright, until next time, thanks for clicking.