Pronunciation Part 1

1. Silent Letters

• Silent “k”: Appears before “n” (e.g., knight).
• Silent “b”: Often follows “m” (e.g., comb).
• Silent “p”: Appears in certain words of Greek origin (e.g., psychology).

Examples:

• Silent “k”: knight, knife, knit, knot, know, knock, knee, knob, kernel, knowledge, knell, kneel, knick, knaves, knapsack, knitted, knitting, knocker, knoll, knocks, knockout, knurl, knacker, kneecap, knickers, knighthood, knackered, knitwear, knocking, knew, knocking-off, knick-knacks, knit-picking.
• Silent “b”: comb, climb, thumb, bomb, womb, plumber, dumb, numb, crumb, subtle, debt, doubt, limb, jamb, succumb, tomb, lamb.
• Silent “p”: psychology, pseudo, psyche, pneumonia, pneumatic, pterodactyl, ptarmigan, pneumatics, receipt, ptosis, psalm, psychotherapist, pneumothorax, psychic, psychiatry, pseudonym, psoriasis, psychosis, pterosaur, psychedelic, psychosis-related, psychotropic, pneumatically, pterophyte, psalter, psephology, psychologize, psychopathology, psychometrical, psychodynamics, psychokinesis.

2. Vowel Sounds

• Short vowels: Pronounced quickly; appear in simple, monosyllabic words.
• Long vowels: Pronounced longer; often include a silent “e” or two vowels together.

Examples:

• Short Vowels: cat, pen, sit, cup, dot, hat, bed, rod, him, box, pit, mat, pet, run, net, kit, man, cot, bug, pop, lip, bat, bit, cut, pet, not, hug, jam, nap, fix, dig, pub, hop, net, tap, pit, mud, ten.
• Long Vowels: cake, seed, kite, hope, cute, rate, reed, time, robe, fume, name, like, feet, size, note, ride, meet, same, smile, hole, gaze, bite, late, shine, line, tame, pole, tire, spine, cone, wave, flame, tide, time, bite, code, plane, safe.

3. Hard and Soft Consonants (‘C’ and ‘G’)

• Hard “C” occurs when followed by “a,” “o,” or “u.”
• Soft “C” occurs when followed by “e,” “i,” or “y.”
• Hard “G” appears before “a,” “o,” or “u.”
• Soft “G” appears before “e,” “i,” or “y.”

Examples:

• Hard ‘C’: cat, carbon, cold, cash, cascade, cactus, cord, coat, kick, cabin, cup, can, carve, counter, cub, cupboard, common, cob, cove, culprit, collapse, capsize, cabinet, clash, career, climate, castle, compact, collide, curve, connect, capture, climb, crash, clique, coral, collar, cosmic, contrast, concede.
• Soft ‘C’: city, cell, center, cycle, cement, cinema, circus, ceiling, cider, cereal, cypress, centimeter, cigar, circulating, civic, circumstance, certificate, cipher, cymbal, cease, circularity, cynosure, circuity, celebration, cytology, cytosine, cytoplasm, catalystic, centigrade, cytogenetics, cytophysiology, cytoskeletal, cyclometry, circle-type, curiosity-centered, clear-cell-like, cementaceous, cyclical-cycle, syntactic-cycle-based.

4. Word Stress

Stress determines which syllable is emphasized in a multi-syllable word.

Nouns vs. Verbs: Many English words change meaning depending on where the stress is placed. For instance:

• Noun: First syllable is stressed (REC-ord).
• Verb: Second syllable is stressed (re-CORD).

Primary stress often falls on the first syllable for nouns and adjectives, and on the second syllable for verbs.

Noun Stress:

• REC-ord, PRES-ent, CON-tract, OB-ject, AD-dress
• PRO-ject, PER-mit, CON-duct, DE-sert, IN-crease
• CON-tent, DIS-count, PRO-duce, SUB-ject, CON-flict
• IM-port, EX-port, RE-bate, UP-date, RE-ject
• OUT-put, INS-ult, RE-call, EX-tract, PRE-fix
• PER-son, AB-stract, IM-print, AC-cent, AT-tract
• OB-stacle, PRO-cess, IN-tent, PRO-file, CON-tour
• CON-tour, PRO-gress, INS-tinct, AD-vice, RE-vamp

Verb Stress:

• re-CORD, pre-SENT, con-TRACT, ob-JECT, ad-DRESS
• pro-JECT, per-MIT, con-DUCT, de-SERT, in-CREASE
• con-TENT, dis-COUNT, pro-DUCE, sub-JECT, con-FLICT
• im-PORT, ex-PORT, re-BATE, up-DATE, re-JECT
• out-PUT, in-SULT, re-CALL, ex-TRACT, pre-FIX
• per-SON, ab-STRACT, im-PRINT, ac-CENT, at-TRACT
• ob-STACLE, pro-CESS, in-TENT, pro-FILE, con-TOUR
• con-TOUR, pro-GRESS, in-STINCT, ad-VICE, re-VAMP

5. ‘Th’ Sounds

Voiced ‘th’ (/ð/): The vocal cords vibrate when pronouncing. Found in function words (e.g., this, that).
Voiceless ‘th’ (/θ/): No vocal cord vibration. Found in content words (e.g., think, thing).

Voiced ‘th’ (/ð/):

• This, that, they, them, there, their, though, other, weather, brother
• Together, rather, feather, gather, further, the, than, those, either, breathe
• Another, therefore, smooth, with, mother, father, theirs, soothe, clothes, thereafter
• Neither, hither, breathing, bother, worthy, within, despite, anything, thy, that’ll

Voiceless ‘th’ (/θ/):

• think, thing, thank, thought, thick, thrust, thrift, theme, thread, thaw
• three, through, thumb, thirty, theta, thermometer, theater, thorn, thermal, thin
• thief, thesis, thousand, thirst, thankful, thermos, path, truth, math, worth
• depth, earth, both, birth, forth, month, north, beneath, growth, myth

6. Vowel + ‘R’

The sound of a vowel changes when it is followed by “r” (an “r-controlled vowel”).
Some common r-controlled vowel sounds:
ar: Sounds like /ɑr/ as in car.
er/ir/ur: Sounds like /ɜr/ or /ər/ as in bird or nurse.
or: Sounds like /ɔr/ as in fork.
air: Sounds like /ɛr/ as in fair.
ear: Sounds like /ɪr/ as in ear.
Examples:
Vowel + ‘R’:
car, far, star, hard, start, chart, shark, jar, part, bar
worker, teacher, leader, writer, dancer, fighter, reader, scholar, butcher, thinker
bird, word, turn, burn, learn, first, thirst, third, shirt, firm
fork, short, port, north, storm, door, store, report, sport, court
fair, hair, pair, stair, repair, airplane, despair, fairy, chair, affair
ear, bear, tear, fear, spear, gear, clear, peer, year, dear

7. Plurals

The pronunciation of the plural “-s” changes depending on the sound at the end of the singular word:
/s/: After voiceless sounds (e.g., cats).
/z/: After voiced sounds (e.g., dogs).
/ɪz/: After sibilant sounds like s, z, sh, ch, or ge (e.g., buses).
Examples:
/s/: cats, hats, packs, cuffs, cups, caps, taps, kicks, books, rocks, masks, cakes, notes, carts, fights, snacks, tastes, jumps, plots, bites, flights, quotes, scoffs, shapes, reps, starts, steps, facts, maps, cuts, socks, chokes, points, hikes, laughs, shots, tracks, tricks.
/z/: dogs, trees, bags, rubs, pens, keys, toys, seeds, drums, ribs, lids, moves, clothes, balls, noses, windows, dreams, fans, rains, songs, bees, friends, arms, cows, frogs, hugs, clouds, leaves, words, names, bones, errors, rooms, days, stars, sounds, hands, tools, phones.
/ɪz/: buses, wishes, dishes, boxes, judges, roses, buzzes, hoses, sizes, ashes, matches, riches, messages, glasses, lenses, bridges, classes, losses, fishes, porches, notices, sandwiches, coaches, stitches, peaches, scratches, torches, splashes, presses, reaches, witches, badges, finishes, branches, garages, lettuces, packages, patches, benches.

8. Past Tense (-ed)

The “-ed” ending for past tense verbs is pronounced differently based on the sound at the end of the root word:
/t/: After voiceless sounds (e.g., jumped).
/d/: After voiced sounds (e.g., played).
/ɪd/: After t or d (e.g., wanted).

Examples:

/t/: jumped, watched, stopped, kicked, pushed, helped, missed, worked, danced, passed, hoped, shipped, laughed, matched, skipped, patched, walked, kissed, cooked, liked, picked, fixed, tapped, shocked, wished, hiked, reached, attacked, tricked, kicked, crossed, washed, shaped, clapped, punched, hushed, tossed, knocked, wrapped.
/d/: played, called, moved, loved, used, tried, cleaned, enjoyed, opened, lived, cried, learned, closed, showed, hugged, planned, changed, saved, smiled, shared, believed, rained, pulled, breathed, climbed, carried, rolled, grabbed, dreamed, owed, called, rubbed, joined, stayed, filled, owned, turned, begged, spared.
/ɪd/: wanted, needed, ended, started, landed, waited, mended, folded, hunted, demanded, panted, decided, painted, reminded, afforded, counted, shouted, rewarded, assisted, traded, skated, guided, rented, blended, collected, expected, invited, treated, respected, recorded, consulted, interested, included, admitted, counted, confronted, created, concluded, consulted.

9. Linking and Intrusive Sounds

Detailed Rules:
Linking “r”: In non-rhotic accents (e.g., British English), an “r” is pronounced between two vowel sounds, even if it’s not written.
Intrusive “r”: An “r” sound is added between vowels where no “r” exists, creating smoother transitions.
Examples:
Linking “r”:
law and order, for example, far away, near enough, clear out, your idea, bear and cub, the star in the sky, our honor, her idea.
doctor arrived, car is red, their uncle, where it is, over it, more ideas, door is open, the number eight, fair attempt, together on time.
year after year, mother and father, sister is here, worker arrived, our airplane, there outside, teacher always helps, leader is strong, the answer again, their orange.
clear as day, teacher understands, hear everything clearly, show her around, your other friend, bear under pressure, driver acts responsibly, another opening, our ally, after all.
Intrusive “r”:
idea-r-of, Vanilla-r-ice cream, China-r-and India, pasta-r-and salad, banana-r-over, flora-r-and fauna, Asia-r-and Europe, drama-r-about, saw-r-it, law-r-abiding.
draw-r-on paper, tuna-r-or chicken, media-r-attention, sofa-r-and chairs, awe-r-inspiring, saw-r-another, chaos-r-around, pizza-r-or burgers, data-r-analysis, panda-r-under threat.
camera-r-operator, umbrella-r-and coat, theatre-r-arts, Australia-r-exports, opera-r-in Paris, agenda-r-items, area-r-outside, Cuba-r-and Florida, saga-r-about family, Havana-r-in summer.
charisma-r-inspiring, Europe-r-and America, Eureka-r-and joy, Alaska-r-on map, lore-r-about, papa-r-against crime, arena-r-about sports, lava-r-around volcanoes, typhoon-r-alert, burrito-r-options.

10. Diphthongs

A diphthong is a single syllable where two vowel sounds glide together. Common diphthongs include:

• /aɪ/: As in buy.
• /eɪ/: As in play.
• /ɔɪ/: As in toy.
• /aʊ/: As in now.
• /oʊ/: As in go.

Examples:

• /aɪ/: buy, my, light, high, cry, time, smile, five, night, eye, tie, right, fly, line, sight, type, wine, sky, bright, pride, shy, why, ride, find, like, slide, tight, while, life, nine, child, hike, strive, grind, spite, white, twice, side, kite.
• /eɪ/: play, day, stay, gray, bay, rain, lay, say, main, straight, eight, pay, way, delay, train,

11. Homophones

• Homophones are words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings.
• These words often confuse learners as their pronunciations are identical, but context determines their meaning.
• Some homophones consist of more than two words, like to, too, and two.

Examples:

• to, too, two
• they’re, their, there
• see, sea
• bare, bear
• be, bee
• right, write
• flower, flour
• hear, here
• plane, plain
• fair, fare
• knight, night
• read (past tense), red
• allowed, aloud
• buy, by, bye
• made, maid
• whole, hole
• for, four
• hour, our
• sale, sail
• sun, son
• pair, pear, pare
• whether, weather
• whose, who’s
• principle, principal
• weak, week
• road, rode
• cell, sell
• scene, seen
• there, their, they’re
• waist, waste
• board, bored
• peace, piece
• cent, scent, sent
• steal, steel
• dear, deer
• vain, vein, vane
• reign, rain, rein
• blew, blue
• meet, meat, mete
• dessert, desert

Tips for Learning Homophones:

• Context is key: Pay attention to the sentence structure to figure out which word is being used.
• Practice through writing: Write sentences using each homophone to solidify their meaning.
• Visual aids: Use images or associations (e.g., picture a bear for “bear” and a person uncovering something for “bare”).
• Build mnemonics: Create memorable phrases, like “The knight fought in the night” or “Write it right.”