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11 English Words with Silent Letters (video)

Posted on March 2, 2010 by Melanie

Pronunciation – 11 English Words with Silent Letters (video)

March 2, 2010 by Melanie

English pronunciation can be very confusing. Often the spelling of a word does not match the pronunciation of the word. Sometimes, there are letters in a word that you don’t even pronounce! In this video, I show you 11 words with silent letters, and I teach you the correct pronunciation.

 

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Comments

  1. babu says

    April 24, 2012 at 8:28 am

    correct pronunciation of EXCUSEME………….:)

    • Melanie says

      April 24, 2012 at 7:49 pm

      Hi, Babu!

      Would you like to know the correct pronunciation of ‘excuse me’? Is that a phrase you have trouble with?

      It’s a bit tricky because there are TWO /k/ sounds in ‘excuse’:
      /ɪk’skjuz.mi/
      The ‘ex’ is pronounced /ɪk’s/ and the ‘cuse’ is pronounced /kjuz/ (so it sounds like ‘kYOUz’). The /s/ sound actually goes with the /kjuz/ sound.

      I hope that helps!
      = )

  2. maggie herrera says

    May 11, 2012 at 12:42 am

    how to pronounce the word : Worcestershire sauce ?

    Thank You 🙂

    • Melanie says

      May 11, 2012 at 12:09 pm

      Hi, Maggie!

      That’s a word that even native speakers have trouble with, especially since it’s a British word!

      In the American accent, ‘Worcestershire’ is pronounced /ˈwʊstɚʃɚ/, where ‘worces’ is pronounced /ˈwʊs/, (similar to ‘would’ /ˈwʊd/).

      You can hear it by clicking on the blue speaker icon after the name here:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worcestershire

      I hope that helps!
      = )

  3. Rossy says

    July 30, 2012 at 1:28 am

    Hi, Melanie
    I’m really grateful for your blog and videos. They help me to improve my English. I know English is difficult but it’s also an International language. As a teacher, it’s my duty to teach my students how to pronounce and speak better English.
    By the way, I have some question, how to pronounce “zh” and how to differentiate the pronounciation of “weather” and “whether”
    Thank you so much!!! Greeting from Indonesia.

    • Melanie says

      July 30, 2012 at 3:01 pm

      Hi, Rossy!

      ‘Weather’ & ‘whether’ are pronounced exactly the same. There is no difference.

      The ‘zh’ sound is the voiced ‘sh’. The mouth position is exactly the same for the ‘sh’ & ‘zh’ sounds. For the ‘sh’ sound it is just air coming out of your mouth. For the ‘zh’ your vocal cords make a sound.

      I hope that helps!
      = )

      • Rossy says

        July 31, 2012 at 2:14 am

        Thank you very much for your reply!!!! Teacher Melanie!!!!

  4. lwyz says

    November 1, 2012 at 12:56 pm

    thanks!for your help! I love your videos!

  5. CARLOS SIMÕES says

    April 12, 2013 at 5:08 am

    How are you Melanie?I would like to know how to pronounce the word,,,party..Thanks in advance..Your pupil—CARLOS

    • Melanie says

      April 12, 2013 at 1:33 pm

      Hi, Carlos,

      In English you can use single quotation marks to make a word stand out:

      I would like to know how to pronounce the word ‘party.’

      This is not an easy word to say with an American accent!
      1. Make sure to pronounce the ‘r’ after the ‘a,’ so it sounds like ‘are.’
      p + are = /pɑɚ/

      2. The ‘t’ is a tapped t sound. Your tongue does a very quick tap against the top of your mouth.

      So, if you speak Spanish, this is difficult for you! Instead of tapping your tongue for the ‘r’ sound, you do it for the ‘t’ sound (and make sure your tongue doesn’t touch the roof of your mouth for the ‘r’ sound!). If you speak Portuguese, you have to remember to pronounce the ‘r’ after the ‘a.’

      Keep practicing!
      = )

  6. Ulises Lira says

    October 14, 2013 at 8:00 pm

    Hi melanie firtable i wanna say thanks to you for upload all the stuff pronunciation , as you know i have to check out the pronunciation is even so hard but so hard , so may ask you something? Is there anyway for learn the IPA more easier?

    • MelanieMelanie says

      October 15, 2013 at 1:59 pm

      Hello,

      Here is a post on how to improve your pronunciation:
      /study-tip-how-to-improve-your-english-pronunciation/

      Section #2 has a list of resources to learn the IPA!

      = )

  7. zahra says

    June 10, 2014 at 3:15 am

    Hi dear Melanie
    I am an English teacher from Iran
    thanks so much for every things
    Good luck
    I love you

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