10 Commonly mispronounced words in English

Learning the commonly mispronounced words in the English language is important. It helps you improve your pronunciation and listening skill. English pronunciation can be very tricky sometimes. The difference between what you write and how you are supposed to pronounce a word can sometimes be jaw-dropping!

In this lesson, we are going to talk about 10 commonly mispronounced words in the English language and at the end of the video I’m going to introduce an online tool that you can use to improve your pronunciation for free!

1. The Cupboard (/ˈkʌbəd/) (of commonly mispronounced words)

A cupboard is a piece of furniture with shelves that you can put stuff in it. Don’t forget that “p” is silent in this word.

2. Salmon (/sAmUHn/)

The second item of commonly mispronounced words is Salmon. Salmon is a kind of fish. Don’t forget that “l” is silent in this word. Some pronunciations may differ in British and American accents but this word is pronounced exactly the same in both of them.

3. Commonly mispronounced words: Almond (/ˈɑː.mənd/)

Almond is a kind of nut. This word is pronounced differently in American and British accents. The American pronunciation includes the “l” very slightly. However, the British pronunciation does not pronounce the “l”.

4. Library (/lIEbrUHREE/)

A library is a place where you keep your books which is in the list of commonly mispronounced words. This word is pronounced differently in American and British accents.

5. Clothes (/kloʊðz/)

This word is pronounced differently in American and British accents. In the American accent, it is pronounced like the word “close”. But the British people pronounce “th” very slightly.

6. Desert (/dəˈzɝts/)/ Dessert (/dɪˈzɝts/)

A Desert is a dry area of land with little to no rainfall and it’s covered in sand. For pronouncing “desert”, the stress is on the first syllable.

Dessert means something sweet that you eat after your food. F or pronouncing “dessert”, the stress is on the second syllable.

Learn more: What is intonation in English?

7. Southern (/sUHTHUHn/)

Are you familiar with the 4 main geographical directions?

North     ↑

East      →

South    ↓

West     ←

The words we said above are nouns. What are the adjectives?

Northern

Eastern

Western

Southern

8.   Iron ([ˈaɪ. əɹn]) (of commonly mispronounced words)

Iron is a kind of metal and one of the chemicals that our body needs. Iron as a noun can also mean an object that is very hot, you plug it in and use it to smooth out the surface of your clothes. Iron as a verb means to use an iron(the hot object) to flatten your clothes.

This word is pronounced exactly the same in both accents.

9. Colonel (/kur-nl/)

A colonel is also of commonly mispronounced words which is an officer of a very high rank in the military or in the airforce. “l” and “o” are silent and instead of them you say “r”.

10. Chaos (kɛ́jɔs)

Chaos means total disaster and mess. For example:

• Our house is a complete chaos at the moment.

An online tool to help you improve

The secret online pronunciation tool that I want to introduce to you is google! If you search “pronunciation” in google, you will see a dictionary.

Type in a word, click on learn to pronounce and you will be directed to the pronunciation box! In this box you can listen and see what the word sounds like, you can select the accent and practice it! This is a great way of English pronunciation practice .

Conclusion of the lesson: commonly mispronounced words

That’s everything for this lesson! There are for sure a lot of tricky words in English and the only thing you can do to master them and level up your English is to practice!