8 common English words that many people mispronounce

Words like Chaos or Cupboard seem simple, but it turns out that pronouncing them correctly is not easy.

Here are 8 words that Mr. Quang Nguyen, an English pronunciation training expert, thinks will challenge you:

8 common English words that many people mispronounce

1. Colonel /ˈkɜrnəl/: lieutenant colonel (pronounced like the word "kernel" which is the edible part of a grain, such as corn, rice, sunflower seeds).

2. Cupboard /ˈkʌbərd/: kitchen cabinet. I first encountered this word when I came to the US to study in 2010. At first I read it as "cup-board", so when a friend said: "The bow is in the "ka-berd" I didn't understand where the bowl was. It took me a while to correct my pronunciation of this word.

3. Suite /swit/: large room, pronounced like "sweet". Before, I pronounced this word like "suit" /sut/. People who work in hotels or travel a lot probably don't pronounce this word wrong.

4. Awry /əˈraɪ/: defective, inappropriate. People often stress the first syllable, reading it like "o-rì" which is incorrect.

5. Debris /dəˈbri/: debris. This word is used a lot and is very popular, especially in newspapers when reporting on disasters. For example: "debris of the explosion", "debris of the plane", "debris of the buildings".

6. Chaos /keɪɑs/: chaos, chaos. This word is easily confused and pronounced as "chao-s", but actually it sounds like "kây-os".

7. Hiccough /ˈhɪkəp/: hiccup. This word can be difficult to write, because it sounds like "HI-kup".

8. Dough /doʊ/: dough (flour + water to make cakes) - pronounced like "doe" which is a female deer. I learned this word from Don - an American friend, on a trip in 2011. That day, Don treated me to Hudsonville ice cream and talked about this word. I heard it 3 times before I realized it was "dough" because before that, I read this word as "dot".

Quang Nguyen

Source link: https://vnexpress.net/8-tu-tieng-anh-pho-bien-nhieu-nguoi-phat-am-sai-4612301.html