Colonel, yacht, Wednesday, February. Learn the correct pronunciation of the words that cause the most mistakes, with respellings, stress patterns and audio.
Many of the most common words in English are not pronounced the way they are spelled. Colonel sounds like kernel. Yacht rhymes with hot. Wednesday has three syllables, not four. If you pronounce a word wrongly, listeners may not understand you, even if your spelling and grammar are perfect.
This guide explains why English pronunciation is so irregular, how to read the simple respellings used in the tables, and the most common patterns of mistakes. Its main part gives 111 commonly mispronounced words in five groups, each with a respelling and a note, plus a speaker button to hear the word. It also includes 22 words that change pronunciation with meaning, 14 words with British and American differences, 12 British place names, the many sounds of -ough, rules for -ed and -s endings, key points, ten practice questions and a teacher activity.
It connects with Commonly Misspelled Words, Commonly Confused Words and Common Errors in English. The pronunciations given are standard British English.
The tables use a simple respelling instead of special symbols. Capital letters show the stressed syllable, the part of the word that is said louder and longer.
| Respelling | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|
| uh | a weak vowel, as in about | puh-LEES (police) |
| ee | as in see | ri-SEET (receipt) |
| ay | as in day | BAL-ay (ballet) |
| y, eye | as in my | EYE-lund (island) |
| oh | as in go | THOH (though) |
| oo | as in food | THROO (through) |
| ow | as in now | DOWT (doubt) |
| aw | as in saw | WAWK (walk) |
| ah | as in father | HAHF (half) |
| ur | as in fur | KUR-nul (colonel) |
| zh | as in measure | ZHON-ruh (genre) |
The speaker buttons use your device's voice. Voices differ between phones and computers, so a few words may sound slightly different from the respelling.
| Word | How to say it | Common mistake or note |
|---|---|---|
| knife | NYF | pronouncing the k |
| knight | NYTE | pronouncing the k |
| gnome | NOHM | pronouncing the g |
| wrist | RIST | pronouncing the w |
| sword | SORD | pronouncing the w |
| psychology | sy-KOL-uh-jee | pronouncing the p |
| pneumonia | nyoo-MOH-nee-uh | pronouncing the p |
| yacht | YOT | saying "yatch" |
| debt | DET | saying "deb-t" |
| doubt | DOWT | pronouncing the b |
| subtle | SUT-ul | pronouncing the b |
| comb | KOHM | pronouncing the b |
| lamb | LAM | pronouncing the b |
| thumb | THUM | pronouncing the b |
| plumber | PLUM-uh | pronouncing the b |
| salmon | SAM-un | pronouncing the l |
| walk | WAWK | pronouncing the l |
| half | HAHF | pronouncing the l |
| calm | KAHM | pronouncing the l |
| listen | LIS-un | pronouncing the t |
| castle | KAH-sul | pronouncing the t |
| honest | ON-ist | pronouncing the h |
| hour | OW-uh | pronouncing the h |
| island | EYE-lund | pronouncing the s |
| muscle | MUS-ul | pronouncing the c |
| autumn | AW-tum | pronouncing the n |
| column | KOL-um | adding a "yum" sound |
| receipt | ri-SEET | pronouncing the p |
| mortgage | MOR-gij | pronouncing the t |
| Wednesday | WENZ-day | saying "wed-nes-day" |
| foreign | FOR-in | saying "for-ayn" |
| vegetable | VEJ-tuh-bul | saying four syllables |
| chocolate | CHOK-lit | saying three syllables |
| business | BIZ-nis | saying "biz-ee-ness" |
| comfortable | KUMF-tuh-bul | saying "com-fort-a-ble" |
| answer | AHN-suh | pronouncing the w |
| often | OF-un | OF-ten is also heard |
| interesting | IN-tris-ting | saying four full syllables |
| February | FEB-roo-uh-ree | dropping the first r (very common) |
| Word | How to say it | Common mistake or note |
|---|---|---|
| photograph | FOH-tuh-grahf | stressing the second syllable |
| photography | fuh-TOG-ruh-fee | stressing the first syllable |
| photographic | foh-tuh-GRAF-ik | stressing another syllable |
| develop | di-VEL-up | stressing the first syllable |
| hotel | hoh-TEL | stressing the first syllable |
| police | puh-LEES | stressing the second syllable wrongly |
| cemetery | SEM-uh-tree | stressing the second syllable |
| mischievous | MIS-chiv-us | saying "mis-CHEE-vee-us" |
| controversy | KON-truh-vur-see | stressing the second syllable |
| preferable | PREF-ruh-bul | stressing the second syllable |
| comparable | KOM-puh-ruh-bul | stressing the second syllable |
| hospitable | HOS-pit-uh-bul | stressing the second syllable |
| economic | ee-kuh-NOM-ik | using a short first vowel (ek-uh-NOM-ik is also accepted) |
| education | ed-yoo-KAY-shun | stressing the first syllable |
| pronunciation | proh-nun-see-AY-shun | saying "pro-NOUN-" like pronounce |
| adult | AD-ult or uh-DULT | both are accepted |
| garage | GAR-ahj or GAR-ij | both are accepted |
| debris | DEB-ree | pronouncing the s |
| capitalise | KAP-it-uh-lyze | stressing the second syllable |
| ambassador | am-BAS-uh-duh | stressing the first syllable |
| Word | How to say it | Common mistake or note |
|---|---|---|
| literature | LIT-ruh-chuh | saying "lit-er-uh-chur" |
| temperature | TEM-pruh-chuh | saying "tem-per-uh-chur" |
| library | LY-bruh-ree | saying "ly-berry" |
| different | DIF-runt | adding a middle syllable |
| every | EV-ree | saying "ev-er-ee" |
| favourite | FAYV-rit | saying "fay-vor-ite" |
| separate (adjective) | SEP-rut | saying "sep-uh-rate" |
| separate (verb) | SEP-uh-rayt | using the adjective form |
| Arctic | ARK-tik | dropping the first c |
| asterisk | AS-tuh-risk | saying "as-ter-ik" |
| athlete | ATH-leet | adding a vowel: "ath-uh-leet" |
| jewellery | JOO-ul-ree | saying "joo-luh-ree" |
| nuclear | NYOO-klee-uh | saying "nyoo-kyoo-luh" |
| ambulance | AM-byuh-luns | saying "am-yuh-luns" |
| especially | ik-SPESH-uh-lee | saying "ex-spesh-uh-lee" |
| particularly | puh-TIK-yuh-luh-lee | dropping syllables |
| probably | PROB-uh-blee | saying "prob-lee" |
| espresso | ess-PRESS-oh | saying "ex-press-oh" |
| sandwich | SAN-wij | saying "sand-witch" |
| family | FAM-uh-lee | dropping the middle vowel |
| Word | How to say it | Common mistake or note |
|---|---|---|
| chaos | KAY-os | saying "chay-os" |
| choir | KWY-uh | saying "choy-er" |
| cache | KASH | saying "kaysh" |
| colonel | KUR-nul | saying "ko-lo-nel" |
| corps | KOR | pronouncing the p and s |
| cough | KOF | saying "kow" |
| enough | ih-NUF | saying "ih-NOW" |
| daughter | DAW-tuh | pronouncing the gh |
| quay | KEE | saying "kway" |
| sew | SOH | saying "soo" |
| suite | SWEET | saying "soot" |
| segue | SEG-way | saying "seeg" |
| niche | NEESH or NICH | both are accepted |
| genre | ZHON-ruh | saying "jen-ruh" |
| ballet | BAL-ay | pronouncing the t |
| buffet (meal) | BUF-ay | pronouncing the t |
| cliché | KLEE-shay | stressing the first syllable |
| debut | DEB-yoo or DAY-byoo | pronouncing the t |
| fiancé | fee-ON-say | saying "fy-an-say" |
| epitome | ih-PIT-uh-mee | saying "ep-i-tohm" |
| hyperbole | hy-PUR-buh-lee | saying "hy-per-bohl" |
| awry | uh-RY | saying "aw-ree" |
| façade | fuh-SAHD | saying "fuh-SAYD" |
| heinous | HAY-nus | saying "hee-nus" |
| archipelago | ar-ki-PEL-uh-goh | saying "ar-chi-" |
| plethora | PLETH-uh-ruh | saying "pluh-THOR-uh" |
| schedule | SHED-yool | SKED-jool is the American form |
| asthma | AS-muh | pronouncing the th |
| mnemonic | nuh-MON-ik | pronouncing the m twice |
| quinoa | KEEN-wah | saying "kwin-oh-uh" |
| heir | AIR | pronouncing the h |
| guarantee | ga-run-TEE | saying "gwa-run-tee" |
Some words are spelled the same but pronounced differently depending on the meaning or the part of speech. Many two-syllable nouns have the stress on the first syllable, and the matching verbs have the stress on the second.
| Word | First pronunciation | Second pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| lead | LEED (to guide) | LED (the metal) |
| tear | TEER (water from the eye) | TAIR (to rip) |
| wind | WIND (moving air) | WYND (to turn) |
| bow | BOH (a knot, or a weapon) | BOW (to bend; the front of a ship) |
| row | ROH (a line) | ROW (a quarrel) |
| live | LIV (to be alive) | LYVE (on air; not recorded) |
| read | REED (present) | RED (past) |
| close | KLOHS (near) | KLOHZ (to shut) |
| minute | MIN-it (60 seconds) | my-NYOOT (very small) |
| desert | DEZ-ut (dry region) | di-ZURT (to abandon) |
| present | PREZ-unt (a gift) | pri-ZENT (to give) |
| record | REK-ord (noun) | ri-KORD (verb) |
| object | OB-jikt (a thing) | ub-JEKT (to disagree) |
| content | KON-tent (what is inside) | kun-TENT (happy) |
| refuse | REF-yoos (rubbish) | ri-FYOOZ (to say no) |
| produce | PROD-yoos (fruit and vegetables) | pruh-DYOOS (to make) |
| increase | IN-krees (noun) | in-KREES (verb) |
| contract | KON-trakt (an agreement) | kun-TRAKT (to shrink) |
| insult | IN-sult (noun) | in-SULT (verb) |
| subject | SUB-jikt (a topic) | sub-JEKT (to make undergo) |
| permit | PUR-mit (noun) | puh-MIT (verb) |
| conduct | KON-dukt (behaviour) | kun-DUKT (to lead) |
Both pronunciations below are correct in their own region. Choose one and use it consistently.
| Word | British | American |
|---|---|---|
| tomato | tuh-MAH-toh | tuh-MAY-toh |
| schedule | SHED-yool | SKED-jool |
| either | EYE-thuh | EE-thuh |
| neither | NYE-thuh | NEE-thuh |
| privacy | PRIV-uh-see | PRY-vuh-see |
| vitamin | VIT-uh-min | VY-tuh-min |
| advertisement | ud-VUR-tis-munt | AD-vur-tyze-munt |
| laboratory | luh-BOR-uh-tree | LAB-ruh-tor-ee |
| route | ROOT | ROWT (sometimes) |
| clerk | KLAHK | KLURK |
| lieutenant | lef-TEN-unt | loo-TEN-unt |
| leisure | LEZH-uh | LEE-zhur |
| aluminium (British) | al-yuh-MIN-ee-um | aluminum (American): uh-LOO-mi-num |
| herb | HURB | URB (silent h) |
Place names often keep old pronunciations and are the most unpredictable of all.
| Place | How to say it | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Edinburgh | ED-in-bruh | not "ed-in-burg" |
| Gloucester | GLOS-tuh | the second s and the o are not sounded fully |
| Leicester | LES-tuh | no "i" sound |
| Worcester | WUS-tuh | no "or" sound |
| Thames | TEMZ | the th is a t |
| Greenwich | GREN-ich | the w is silent |
| Norwich | NOR-ich | the w is silent |
| Warwick | WOR-ik | the w in the middle is silent |
| Southwark | SUTH-uk | not "south-wark" |
| Reading | RED-ing | like the past tense of read |
| Derby | DAR-bee | British pronunciation |
| Cirencester | SIS-uh-tuh | the middle is shortened |
The spelling -ough has at least six different sounds, so each word must be learned separately.
| Word | How to say it | Sound |
|---|---|---|
| through | THROO | oo as in food |
| though | THOH | oh as in go |
| thought | THAWT | aw as in saw |
| tough | TUF | uf as in stuff |
| cough | KOF | of as in off |
| bough | BOW | ow as in cow |
| thorough | THUR-uh | uh as in about |
| dough | DOH | oh as in go |
| rough | RUF | uf as in stuff |
| ought | AWT | aw as in saw |
| Ending | Sound | When | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ed | /t/ | after voiceless sounds such as p, k, f, s, sh, ch | walked (WAWKT), stopped (STOPT), washed (WOSHT) |
| -ed | /d/ | after voiced sounds and vowels | played (PLAYD), cleaned (KLEEND), opened (OH-pund) |
| -ed | /id/ | after t and d | wanted (WON-tid), needed (NEE-did) |
| -s, -es | /s/ | after voiceless sounds | books (BOOKS), cats (KATS) |
| -s, -es | /z/ | after voiced sounds and vowels | dogs (DOGZ), boys (BOYZ) |
| -s, -es | /iz/ | after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds | buses (BUS-iz), watches (WOCH-iz) |
Activity: give each student a list of ten words from the tables and ask them to read each aloud, then to listen to the speaker button and compare. Follow with a minimal-pair game, such as live / leave or ship / sheep, in which the teacher says one word and students choose the one they heard. Record the class reading a short passage and play it back for self-correction.
Please note: pronunciations in this guide are standard British English, shown in a simple respelling that is not the same as the International Phonetic Alphabet. Accents vary widely, and a dictionary with audio recordings is the best final check.
10 questions. Select an answer for each, then submit to see your score instantly.