{"id":568,"date":"2021-02-19T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/?p=568"},"modified":"2021-02-20T19:02:21","modified_gmt":"2021-02-20T10:02:21","slug":"difficult-english-words-to-pronounce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/difficult-english-words-to-pronounce\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Most Difficult English Words to Pronounce"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In some languages, like Italian or Polish, you can look at a word and instantly know how to pronounce it. Or if you hear a word, you can have a pretty good guess about spelling it for the most part. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, English doesn\u2019t have regular spelling patterns, and there are even many different ways to spell the same sound, like hear<\/em> and here<\/em>. There are also words that are spelled the same but pronounced differently, like the present and past tense of the verb read<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why are we talking about spelling on a blog about pronunciation? That's because the irregular spelling pattern in English is the reason English learners find the pronunciation so difficult!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Today, we\u2019ll look at the 10 most difficult words<\/a> from Eat Dream Sleep English YouTube channel, and some tips to help you remember the correct pronunciation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schwa Sound<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

First, let's take a look at a special sound in English, called schwa sound<\/em>. It is represented as \/\u0259\/<\/code>. It\u2019s the sound you hear at the end of \u201cbutter<\/strong>\u201d or in \u201ca<\/strong> cup of tea\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This sound is very common in English! It\u2019s never stressed, and it's a lazy, unclear vowel sound, like \u201cuh<\/em>\u201d. Often, some vowels (a\/e\/i\/o\/u)<\/code> are replaced with the \/\u0259\/<\/code> sound. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Words with Tricky Pronunciation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Pop quiz! What do these words have in common?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • comfortable<\/em> <\/li>
  • restaurant<\/em> <\/li>
  • island<\/em> <\/li>
  • dangerous<\/em> <\/li>
  • vegetable<\/em> <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Here's the answer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    They are tricky to pronounce because these words have \u201cextra\u201d letters in them which confuse English learners!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/th>Correct<\/th>Wrong<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
    <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>
    		comf<\/strong>-t-ble<\/td>com-fort-ta-ble<\/td><\/tr>
    <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>
    		res<\/strong>-t-runt<\/td>res-tau-runt<\/td><\/tr>
    <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>
    		eye<\/strong>-lund<\/td>iz-land<\/td><\/tr>
    <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>
    		dan<\/strong>-juh-rus<\/td>dan-jer-rus<\/td><\/tr>
    <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/td>
    		vej<\/strong>-t-ble<\/td>ve-jee-ta-ble<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
    bold for emphasis<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
    • Comfortable has three syllables, not four. It's not pronounced “comfort table<\/em>.” Replace the \u2018a<\/em>\u2019 at the end with the schwa \/\u0259\/<\/code> sound. That way it'll sound more like “comfor-t-ble<\/em>.”<\/li>
    • Restaurant has only two syllables. You can miss out the \u201cau\u201d or replace it with schwa after the “t”. <\/li>
    • Island has an \u201cs.\u201d Just ignore this. \u201cLand\u201d is not pronounced like \u201chand.\u201d Replace “a” with schwa. <\/li>
    • Dangerous, like restaurant <\/em>has only two syllables. Miss out or replace the \u201ce\u201d before the “r” with schwa. <\/li>
    • Vegetable, like comfortable, has only three syllables. It follows a similar pattern – skip out or replace the \u201ca\u201d before the \u201ct\u201d with the schwa. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      How to Pronounce the “Th” Sound <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Moving on to the \u2018th\u2019 sound in tooth, teeth <\/em>and clothes. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      • tooth<\/em>
        <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/li>
      • teeth<\/em>
        <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/li>
      • clothes<\/em>
        <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        To pronounce the “th” sound, put your tongue between your teeth and let the air come out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Pronouncing clothes<\/em> is a bit tricky, as the \u201cth\u201d is followed by \u201cs.\u201d As soon as you place your tongue between your teeth to pronounce the “th,” your tongue has to pull back quickly. Check out Tom\u2019s trick from the video of him saying \u201cclose<\/em>\u201d with a \/z\/<\/code> sound at the end, as in \u201cclose the door.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        How to Pronounce “Walk” and “Work” <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        That brings us to walk <\/em>and work<\/em>. The vowels in these words are pronounced quite differently, so here the problem usually comes down to listening and being able to differentiate between sounds in English. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        • walk <\/em>
          <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/li>
        • work <\/em>
          <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          When you say “walk<\/em>,” your mouth opens and makes a shape similar to an O. Your tongue is relaxed and rested at the bottom of your mouth. When you say, “work<\/em>” your mouth doesn't open as much, and you pull back and tense your tongue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          How to Pronounce “Analysis”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

          Finally, we have analysis.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          • ana<\/strong>lysis<\/em>
            <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/li>
          • uh-na<\/strong>-luh-suhs <\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

            This time, you do pronounce all the letters! It\u2019s got 4 syllables, with the \u201cy\u201d making a schwa sound. The stress is on the second syllable, so you say the \u201cna\u201d a little louder and stronger than the rest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Extra: How to Pronounce “Anemone”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

            Anemone<\/em> is a plant of the buttercup family. Can you guess how this word is pronounced? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            • ane<\/strong>mone<\/strong><\/em>
              <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/li>
            • uh-ne<\/strong>-muh-nee<\/strong><\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
              \"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

              Wrapping Up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

              So, those are top 10 most difficult words to pronounce in English, and how to pronounce them! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Words aren't always pronounced the way they are spelled, and English spelling is hard for native speakers too! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Make sure to practice speaking out lout in order to improve your English pronunciation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              Here are the most difficult English words to pronounce. Will you take up the challenge? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/edho-pratama-T6fDN60bMWY-unsplash-600x400.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/edho-pratama-T6fDN60bMWY-unsplash-600x533.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Rose Lewis","author_link":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/author\/rose-l\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nativeintonation.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}