Key points
- Most mistakes come from reading a word the way it is spelled. Wednesday is /ˈwenzdeɪ/, two syllables, not Wed-nes-day.
- Many letters are silent: the t in listen, the l in salmon, the b in debt, the s in island.
- Some words lose a syllable in speech: comfortable is /ˈkʌmftəbl/ (three syllables) and vegetable is /ˈvedʒtəbl/.
- Stress traps change the word: necessary stresses the first syllable, hotel the second.
On this page
Why English words are so often mispronounced
English spelling was fixed centuries ago, while the pronunciation kept changing, and many words were borrowed from French, Latin and Greek with their spelling unchanged. So the letters often show how a word sounded long ago, not how it sounds today. The words below are the ones learners most often read letter by letter. Tap the speaker icon to hear each one.
Words with silent letters
| Word | IPA (UK) | Say it like | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday | /ˈwenzdeɪ/ | WENZ-day | The first d and the middle e are silent. |
| often | /ˈɒfn/ | OFF-en | The t is usually silent (/ˈɒftən/ is also heard). |
| listen | /ˈlɪsn/ | LISS-en | Silent t. |
| castle | /ˈkɑːsl/ | KAH-sul | Silent t. US: /ˈkæsl/. |
| island | /ˈaɪlənd/ | EYE-lund | Silent s. |
| salmon | /ˈsæmən/ | SAM-un | Silent l. |
| debt | /det/ | DET | Silent b, as in doubt /daʊt/. |
| receipt | /rɪˈsiːt/ | ri-SEET | Silent p. |
| subtle | /ˈsʌtl/ | SUT-ul | Silent b. |
| honest | /ˈɒnɪst/ | ON-ist | Silent h, so it is an honest man. |
| knowledge | /ˈnɒlɪdʒ/ | NOL-ij | Silent k; the o is short. |
| foreign | /ˈfɒrən/ | FOR-un | Silent g. |
| sword | /sɔːd/ | SORD | Silent w. |
| climb | /klaɪm/ | KLIME | Silent b after m, as in comb and thumb. |
| half | /hɑːf/ | HAHF | Silent l, as in calm and walk. |
| could | /kʊd/ | KOOD (short) | Silent l, as in would and should. |
Words that are shorter than they look
In these words a written vowel is not pronounced, so the word has fewer syllables than the spelling suggests.
| Word | IPA (UK) | Say it like | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| comfortable | /ˈkʌmftəbl/ | KUMF-tuh-bul | 3 syllables, not com-for-ta-ble. |
| vegetable | /ˈvedʒtəbl/ | VEJ-tuh-bul | 3 syllables. |
| chocolate | /ˈtʃɒklət/ | CHOK-lut | 2 syllables. |
| different | /ˈdɪfrənt/ | DIF-runt | Usually 2 syllables. |
| interesting | /ˈɪntrəstɪŋ/ | IN-truh-sting | 3 syllables; stress on in-. |
| family | /ˈfæməli/ | FAM-lee | Often 2 syllables in fast speech. |
| every | /ˈevri/ | EV-ree | 2 syllables. |
| business | /ˈbɪznəs/ | BIZ-nis | 2 syllables; the u sounds like i. |
| restaurant | /ˈrestrɒnt/ | RES-tront | Usually 2 or 3 syllables. |
| temperature | /ˈtemprətʃə/ | TEM-pruh-chuh | The first e after p is lost. |
| camera | /ˈkæmrə/ | KAM-ruh | Often 2 syllables. |
Some words go the other way. liable /ˈlaɪəbl/ has three syllables, and hierarchy /ˈhaɪərɑːki/ has four.
Words with surprising vowels
| Word | IPA (UK) | Say it like | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| women | /ˈwɪmɪn/ | WIM-in | The o sounds like i. Woman is /ˈwʊmən/. |
| busy | /ˈbɪzi/ | BIZ-ee | The u sounds like i. |
| bury | /ˈberi/ | BERR-ee | Sounds like berry. |
| colonel | /ˈkɜːnl/ | KER-nul | Sounds like kernel. |
| recipe | /ˈresəpi/ | RESS-uh-pee | 3 syllables; the final e is said. |
| said | /sed/ | SED | Not sayd. Says is /sez/. |
| blood | /blʌd/ | BLUD | Rhymes with mud, as does flood. |
| steak | /steɪk/ | STAKE | Rhymes with break, not speak. |
| height | /haɪt/ | HITE | Ends in t, not th. |
| colleague | /ˈkɒliːɡ/ | KOL-eeg | Ends in a hard g, not j. |
| queue | /kjuː/ | KYOO | Four silent letters: it sounds like the letter Q. |
| choir | /ˈkwaɪə/ | KWIRE | Starts with kw. |
| suite | /swiːt/ | SWEET | Same as sweet, not suit. |
| niche | /niːʃ/ | NEESH | US often /nɪtʃ/ (NITCH). Both are accepted. |
| clothes | /kləʊðz/ | KLOHTHZ | One syllable, not clo-thes. |
| world | /wɜːld/ | WURLD | One syllable; the o sounds like the u in fur. |
Words with tricky stress
| Word | IPA (UK) | Say it like | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| necessary | /ˈnesəsəri/ | NESS-uh-suh-ree | Stress the first syllable. |
| pronunciation | /prəˌnʌnsiˈeɪʃn/ | pruh-NUN-see-AY-shun | No ounce: it is nun, unlike pronounce. |
| February | /ˈfebruəri/ | FEB-roo-uh-ree | Often said FEB-yoo-ree. |
| especially | /ɪˈspeʃəli/ | ih-SPESH-uh-lee | Not ex-pecially. |
| prestigious | /preˈstɪdʒəs/ | press-TIJ-us | Short i, unlike prestige /preˈstiːʒ/. |
| hotel | /həʊˈtel/ | hoh-TELL | Stress the second syllable. |
| develop | /dɪˈveləp/ | dih-VEL-up | Stress the second syllable. |
| event | /ɪˈvent/ | ih-VENT | Stress the second syllable. |
| determine | /dɪˈtɜːmɪn/ | dih-TUR-min | Ends in min, not mine. |
| category | /ˈkætəɡəri/ | KAT-uh-guh-ree | Stress the first syllable. |
| photography | /fəˈtɒɡrəfi/ | fuh-TOG-ruh-fee | Unlike PHOtograph. |
Same spelling, different sound
Some spellings are pronounced in different ways, and some words change with their meaning:
| Words | Pronunciation |
|---|---|
| read (now) / read (past) | /riːd/ and /red/ |
| live (verb) / live (adjective) | /lɪv/ and /laɪv/ |
| desert / dessert | /ˈdezət/ and /dɪˈzɜːt/ |
| tear (crying) / tear (rip) | /tɪə/ and /teə/ |
| though, through, tough, thought | /ðəʊ/, /θruː/, /tʌf/, /θɔːt/ |
How to check any word yourself
- Look up the word in an online learner's dictionary and read its IPA before you play the audio.
- Count the syllables and find the ˈ stress mark.
- Listen to both UK and US audio, then choose one and repeat it three times.
- Keep a list of words that surprised you and review it weekly. Use them in a sentence aloud.
Frequently asked questions
How do you pronounce Wednesday?
Wednesday is pronounced /ˈwenzdeɪ/, like WENZ-day. It has two syllables: the first d and the second e are silent.
How many syllables does comfortable have?
Usually three: /ˈkʌmftəbl/, said KUMF-tuh-bul. The -or- in the middle is not pronounced in normal speech.
Why are there so many silent letters in English?
English spelling was mostly fixed hundreds of years ago, but pronunciation kept changing, so some letters stopped being said. Other silent letters, like the b in debt, were added by scholars to show a word's Latin origin.
Is it pronunciation or pronounciation?
The noun is spelled pronunciation and said /prəˌnʌnsiˈeɪʃn/, with nun in the middle. The verb pronounce keeps the ou spelling and the /aʊ/ sound.