Today I'm going to try and help you answer this very popular question:
Why don't we pronounce English words the way they're spelled?
Over the years I've had many many many students tell me:
Why is it that we don't say these English words the way they're spelled?
It doesn't make any sense, it's very confusing,
And that's what I want to talk to you about today. English has crazy spelling and weird pronunciation that goes with it.
Keep in mind I'll be giving you the American pronunciation of these words
Because well, I'm American. I don't think British English is that different,
So what I'm going to talk to you about today is pretty relevant for just about all English varieties.
So let's just jump right into it.
The first letter combination that I want to talk to you about is the GH.
So let's start at the beginning of the word.
If you see these two letters at the beginning of the word
It's just going to have a simple /g/ sound. The H is going to be silent.
For example:
It's also a simple /g/ sound when you find it in the middle of a word sometimes.
Now if we're talking about some compound nouns, you might pronounce the G and the H.
So for example, somebody might call somebody else a pig head.
Not a nice thing to say, but in this case you would say the G and the H.
Or bighorn. G and H are both pronounced.
And finally when the GH comes at the end of the word, I think this is where it probably becomes the most confusing.
Because often times it just has an /f/ sound. As in:
Now, there are some exceptions to this rule.
And I know, English and all the exceptions...
I hate it, but we just got to deal with it. So for example:
In this case the gh is just completely silent.
But remember, most of the time when you see the GH at the end of a word, it'll have that /f/ sound.
You get the point.
Next, let's talk about these two letters right here: the P and the H.
I think this is a little easier because pretty much wherever you find it,
at the beginning, the middle, or the end - It's going to have an /f/ sound.
So for example at the beginning of the word.
In the middle.
And at the end of a word.
The PH will have the /f/ sound.
Sticking with Ps: If you have a P and S together, basically the P is silent.
So when you see it, oftentimes at the beginning of a word, you're not going to say the P.
In these words the P is silent.
Now, let's look at a vowel sound.
And you might see these two letters, the double O, together.
And most often it's either going to have one of two sounds.
It's either going to have an...
So for example, an /uu/ sound in:
Or an /uuh/ sound in:
These aren't the only sounds that these two letters make, and that can cause a lot of confusion.
Unfortunately, there is no rule for this.
You just have to learn these words.
Learn the pronunciation and practice and practice and practice.
The double O may also make an...
And it can have more of an...
Again, there's no rule, you just have to read these words.
Listen to the way people say them correctly and practice and practice and practice and practice.
Keep in mind I think a wonderful way to learn spelling and pronunciation
and to match them up is to use subtitles when you are watching TV or movies.
Because you are hearing the pronunciation, as well as reading the words,
and you're able to match the sounds to the spelling.
A good way to practice: Use subtitles.
You can even use subtitles for this lesson right now
if you want to listen to my pronunciation of the words.
Next I want to talk to you about four letters that you often see at the end of words.
And those letters could be -tion or -sion.
The pronunciation is the same.
-tion is pronounced /shun/.
-sion also pronounced /shun/.
When you see the -tion or the -sion the stress of this
word, the syllable stress, is going to come on the syllable before.
So for example, the word pronunciation.
The stress is going to come on the syllable before the -tion.
So it's...
Same with the word comprehension.
The stress is going to come on the syllable before -sion, which in this case...
Comprehension.
Let's stay with word endings for right now
because other letters you might see at the end of a word are these five right here.
-ology
And this is pronounced /ol-uh-jee/.
And what makes this I think a little challenging is that you have these two Os right here.
That first one is a short O sound, and the second o is more of a schwa sound.
So we see this at the end of words like...
Another popular word ending is -ture.
And when you see these four letters at the end of a word it's pronounced /cher/.
We say -ture as /cher/.
There's just so many words out there that the and in -ture.
Just remember /cher/.
Now these two letters right here, this is a very, very difficult one.
And it is the RL blend.
Because the R sound and L sound on their own
those are difficult sounds to make.
Now I'm not going to go over those individual sounds.
We did a video lesson about that before.
And if you want to check that out, it'll help you make those individual sounds.
Now since both of those sounds are very difficult,
you can imagine that when you find these two letters right next to each other in some words
it's very challenging for many English language learners.
For example:
You have to make that transition from the R to the L.
Where the R sound, your tongue is in the middle of your mouth, and you transition to the
L where your tongue is going to touch the top part right behind your front teeth.
Again, I encourage you watch the RL lesson.
This will really help you with these two sounds.
Now, I really, really, really want to hear from all of you.
Because if there are any other difficult words or letter combinations
that you think are challenging to pronounce, please write them in the comments.
Share with us. Maybe we'll do another lesson in the future talking about this.
Because there are so many different crazy English spellings and their weird pronunciation.
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Thank you guys so much for watching and we'll see you next time.