- Home
- How to pronounce
- Spellings that mislead
Spellings that mislead: How to Pronounce Them
Everyday words whose letters point you toward the wrong sound. Press play to hear each word, or open its page for British audio, syllables and meaning.
- colonel · KUR-nul · /ˈkɝnəl/
Sounds exactly like kernel: 'KUR-nul'. There is no l sound in the middle. - choir · KWY-er · /ˈkwaɪɚ/
Starts with a kw sound: 'KWY-er'. - quay · KEE · /ki/
Sounds exactly like key. - queue · KYOO · /kju/
Only the first letter is heard: it sounds like the letter Q. - women · WIM-un · /ˈwɪmən/
The o is said like a short i: 'WIM-in'. - busy · BIZ-ee · /ˈbɪzi/
The u is said like a short i: 'BIZ-ee'. - bury · BER-ee · /ˈbɛri/
The u is said like a short e, so bury sounds like berry. - phlegm · FLEM · /flɛm/
The ph is f and the g is silent: 'flem'. - thorough · THUR-roh · /ˈθɜroʊ/
Two syllables: 'THUR-oh' in the US, 'THUH-ruh' in Britain. - through · THROO · /θru/
Rhymes with true. The gh is silent. - though · THOH · /ðoʊ/
Rhymes with go. The gh is silent. - tough · TUHF · /tʌf/
The gh is an f sound: 'tuff'. - cough · KOF · /kɑf/
The gh is an f sound and the vowel is short: 'kawf' or 'kof'. - borough · BUR-roh · /ˈbɜˌroʊ/
Americans say 'BUR-oh'; Britons say 'BUH-ruh'. - sergeant · SAR-junt · /ˈsɑrdʒənt/
The er is said 'ar': 'SAR-junt'. - leopard · LEP-erd · /ˈlɛpɚd/
The o is silent: 'LEP-erd'. - jeopardy · JEP-er-dee · /ˈdʒɛpɚdi/
The o is silent: 'JEP-er-dee'. - recipe · RES-uh-pee · /ˈrɛsəpi/
Three syllables, ending in 'pee': 'RESS-uh-pee'. - sew · SOH · /soʊ/
Rhymes with go, not with new. It sounds like so. - chaos · KAY-ahs · /ˈkeɪɑs/
The ch is a k sound: 'KAY-oss'. - segue · SEG-way · /ˈsɛɡweɪ/
Two syllables: 'SEG-way'. - suave · SWAHV · /swɑv/
One syllable starting with 'sw': 'swahv'. - mauve · MOHV · /moʊv/
Rhymes with grove in American English: 'mohv'. - iron · EYE-ern · /ˈaɪɚn/
The r and o swap places when spoken: 'EYE-ern'. - comfortable · KUHM-fer-tuh-bul · /ˈkʌmfɚtəbəl/
Usually three syllables: 'KUMF-ter-bul'. The 'or' is swallowed. - vegetable · VEJ-tuh-bul · /ˈvɛdʒtəbəl/
Usually three syllables: 'VEJ-tuh-bul'. - temperature · TEM-pruh-cher · /ˈtɛmprətʃɚ/
Usually 'TEM-per-uh-cher' or 'TEM-pruh-cher'. - pronunciation · proh-nuhn-see-AY-shun · /proʊˌnʌnsiˈeɪʃən/
The second syllable is 'nun', not 'noun': 'pruh-nun-see-AY-shun'.
More tricky word lists
Silent letters
Letters that are written but never spoken. Most are leftovers from older spellings or from Latin and Greek roots.
Borrowed from French
English kept many French words close to their original sound, so the last letters are often silent and the stress lands late.
Food and drink
Dishes and ingredients from Italian, Spanish, Japanese and other languages, often said very differently from how they look.
Said differently in the US and UK
Words where American and British speakers move the stress or change a vowel. Neither is wrong; pick the one that matches your audience.
Stress in an unexpected place
Words that are easy to spell out but easy to get wrong, because the strong syllable is not where you would guess.
Same spelling, two pronunciations
Heteronyms: words spelled the same way that change sound with meaning. In many noun and verb pairs the noun is stressed first and the verb last.
Often mispronounced
Common words that pick up an extra sound, lose one, or swap two.