Words That Look the Same but Are Pronounced Differently! (video)
English pronunciation can be maddening. Every time you learn which sound matches which spelling pattern, another word comes along that doesn’t follow the rule!
Do you know the difference in pronunciation between say and says? [Hint: They don’t sound the same!]
In this video you’ll the how say and says sound different, as well as the difference in pronunciation for …
student & study
create & creature
treat & threat
please & pleasant
dream, dreamed, & dreamt
politics, political, & politician
photograph, photography, & photographer
economy & economic
curious..
Hi, Chico!
‘Curious’ is a very difficult word for a lot of English learners to pronounce. It’s hard to remember that there is also a consonant ‘y’ sound in the first syllable. It’s pronounced: ‘kyer-ee-us.’ I think I will add this word to a video in the future!
Thanks,
Melanie
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My class here in Saudi Arabia have difficulty with “reference”. Thank you Melanie. I use your videos in my class. Brilliant
Hi, Daoud! Thank you for using my videos in your class! I hope they are useful to your students. I can imagine that ‘reference’ is a difficult word for Arabic speakers because of the /r/ sounds. I will try to include this word in a future video.
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Hi, teacher,
Thanks for everything! I was wondering if you would
make some videos on linking.
I am always confused with phrases like “a lot of people”, “100 of them” and then so on.
As I know, “of” sounds like a schwa sound, and sometimes it is pronounced something like “uv” or “duv” as in ” a lot of xxx.”
Thanks a lot!
Warmest regards,
Tam Cheung
Hi, Tam!
Check out my listening lessons! The first part of the lesson is a story, and the second part is a pronunciation lesson. I talk a lot about linking & other aspects of the American accent in these lessons:
/listening/
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Hi, teacher
Thank you for everything.
Do you teach on Skype?
Hi, Jefferson! I do teach on Skype, but unfortunately I am not taking on any new students now. My schedule is full! I’m sorry.
Good luck to you with your English studies,
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Oh, ok teacher thank you for attention. When do you take a new students, could you tell me please? I study English at the school, but I want to continue on my studies after, cause my course has one year of duration.
I would like to know how to pronounce these words: conscience , conscientious, conciousness … 🙂
Hi, Gabriela!
These words are challenging even for native speakers!
Stress on the 1st syllable:
conscience /ˈkɑ:nʃəns/
consciousness /ˈkɑ:nʃəsnəs/
(The ʃ symbol represents the ‘sh’ sound)
Stress on the 3rd syllable:
conscientious /ˌkɑn:ʃiˈɛntʃəs/
You can hear someone say this words by clicking on the red speaker icon:
http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/consciousness
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Sometimes, I’m confused how to differentiate “maintain” and “maintenance”. Could you help me???
Hi, Rossy!
The first part of both words, ‘main,’ is pronounced the same: /ˈmeɪn/. The first syllable is stressed in both words.
maintain: /meɪnˈteɪn/ (the vowel sound is the same in both syllables)
maintenance: /ˈmeɪntənəns/ (the last two vowel sounds change to the ‘schwa’ sound)
I hope that helps!
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thanks
your lectures are very helpful for me.
hi.. i want to know the correct pronunciation of these words
1.Suggestion
2.ordinary
3.etiquette
Hi, Arslan!
You can call these ‘video lessons’ instead of ‘lectures’! I’m happy that they are helpful to you.
1. suggestion: /səˈʤɛstʃən/
– It’s easier to say this word if you don’t try to pronounce the /g/ sound.
2. ordinary: /ˈoɚdəˌneri/
– In American pronunciation, you must pronounce the ‘r’ after a vowel.
3. etiquette: /ˈɛtɪkət/
– Most of this time ‘qu’ is pronounced /kw/ in English, but this is a word that we stole from French, so the ‘qu’ is pronounced just /k/.
I hope that helps!
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hi mam,
i have trouble to pronounce that words, starts with Sh and S, please help me.
Hi!
The /s/ and /ʃ/ ‘sh’ sounds are very similar. In fact, the only difference is the placement of your tongue!
To make the /s/ sound, your tongue must be flat on the bottom of your mouth. The tip of your tongue is behind your bottom teeth. Your lips are completely relaxed. They are not rounded.
To make the /ʃ/ ‘sh’ sound, the back sides of your tongue touch your back top teeth, and the tip of your tongue is in the middle of your mouth. Again, your lips are completely relaxed. They are not rounded.
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hi Melanie
I’m an English teacher in Iran. our first language here is Persian. based on 6 years experience of teaching i understood that Persian speakers have lots of problem in pronouncing th in English such as words like father, they pronounce it /fader/. or the word /this/ they pronounce /dis/ or /zis/.it would really kinds of u to help me what to do.
thanks alot
Hi Melanie,
I have been an English speaker for about 15 years now, however, there are times when I can’t correctly pronounce Live vs. Leave, Hit vs. Heat, Reach vs. Rich, Beach vs. Bitch, ad so on. I just don’t get the hang of pronouncing these word correctly.
please help,
Elisa
Hi, Elisa,
You are not alone! The /ɪ/ sound (live, hit, rich, bitch, etc.) doesn’t exist in many languages, so it is difficult for English learners to pronounce. It takes a lot of practice to get the sound right!
This video from Rachel’s English may help you to make the sound:
http://www.rachelsenglish.com/videos/ih-sit-vowel
Try to record yourself saying the minimal pairs (live vs leave, hit vs heat, etc.). Try to imitate native English speakers making the sound. With practice, it will get easier.
All the best,
Melanie
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Hi Melanie,
I just wanted to thank you for uploading so many videos and lessons, they have really helped me. I think my English has improved a lot.
Learning English is more difficult than I thought, so thank you for helping me.
By the way, I still have some trouble with 2 words: “stupid” and “ridiculous”, the thing is that in Spanish they are such a strong words, a bit offensive, but it seems in English is quite different. So wondering when it is correct and incorrect to use them. Would you mind helping me out?
Thanks so much!
Silvana
That’s a good question, Silvana!
As a general rule, don’t call PEOPLE or their IDEAS ‘stupid’ or ‘ridiculous’ to their faces. You would be saying that someone is not intelligent, or foolish, and that would be offensive.
However, it’s OK to use ‘stupid’ or ‘ridiculous’ about YOURSELF or THINGS:
“I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to look stupid.”
“It was stupid of me not to say anything.”
“My stupid car won’t start.”
“It was a stupid movie.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
“I paid a ridiculous amount of money for this sweater.”
Does that help? If in doubt, don’t use them in conversation. Wait until you’ve heard more people use them & you feel more comfortable.
Good luck!
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Melanie
Hi Melanie,
Thanks so much for your reply, it helped me a lot.
Silvana
hi teacher,
thanks for the video you uploaded it helps me a lot to improve my english pronounciation…esp.to pronounce l and r…now i know how to pronounce that correctly,,tnx so much..God bless