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Said differently in the US and UK: How to Pronounce Them
Words where American and British speakers move the stress or change a vowel. Neither is wrong; pick the one that matches your audience. Press play to hear each word, or open its page for British audio, syllables and meaning.
- garage · guh-RAHZH · /ɡəˈrɑʒ/
Americans stress the end ('guh-RAHZH'). Britons stress the start ('GARR-ahzh' or 'GARR-ij'). - ballet · ba-LAY · /bæˈleɪ/
Americans stress the end ('ba-LAY'); Britons stress the start ('BAL-ay'). The t is silent either way. - debris · duh-BREE · /dəˈbri/
The s is silent. Americans stress the end ('duh-BREE'), Britons the start ('DEB-ree'). - tomato · tuh-MAY-toh · /təˈmeɪˌtoʊ/
The middle vowel changes: 'tuh-MAY-toh' in the US, 'tuh-MAH-toh' in Britain. - schedule · SKEJ-uul · /ˈskɛdʒʊl/
Americans start with 'sk' ('SKEJ-ool'); many Britons start with 'sh' ('SHED-yool'). - leisure · LEZH-er · /ˈlɛʒɚ/
The first vowel differs: 'LEE-zher' in the US, 'LEZH-uh' in Britain. - vitamin · VY-tuh-mun · /ˈvaɪtəmən/
Americans say 'VY-tuh-min'; Britons say 'VIT-uh-min'. - advertisement · ad-VUR-tuz-munt · /ædˈvɝtəzmənt/
The stress moves: 'ad-ver-TYZE-ment' in the US, 'ad-VUR-tis-ment' in Britain. - controversy · KON-truh-vur-see · /ˈkɑntrəˌvɝsi/
Americans stress the first syllable. Britons say either 'KON-truh-vur-see' or 'kun-TROV-uh-see'. - privacy · PRY-vuh-see · /ˈpraɪvəsi/
The first vowel differs: 'PRY-vuh-see' in the US, 'PRIV-uh-see' in Britain. - missile · MIS-ul · /ˈmɪsəl/
Americans reduce the ending ('MISS-ul'); Britons rhyme it with aisle ('MISS-ile'). - fragile · FRAJ-ul · /ˈfrædʒəl/
Americans say 'FRAJ-ul'; Britons say 'FRAJ-ile', rhyming the end with mile. - herb · URB · /ɝb/
Americans drop the h ('urb'); Britons pronounce it ('hurb'). - route · ROOT · /rut/
Britons always say 'root'. Americans use both 'root' and 'rowt'. - niche · NICH · /nɪtʃ/
Americans often say 'nitch'; Britons usually say 'neesh'. - lieutenant · loo-TEN-unt · /luˈtɛnənt/
Americans say 'loo-TEN-unt'; the British army form is 'lef-TEN-unt'. - zebra · ZEE-bruh · /ˈzibrə/
Americans say 'ZEE-bruh'; Britons usually say 'ZEB-ruh'. - yogurt · YOH-ghert · /ˈjoʊɡɚt/
Americans say 'YOH-gert'; Britons say 'YOG-ut' with a short o. - basil · BAY-zul · /ˈbeɪzəl/
Americans say 'BAY-zul'; Britons say 'BAZ-ul'. - oregano · or-EG-uh-noh · /ˌɔˈrɛɡəˌnoʊ/
Americans stress the second syllable ('uh-REG-uh-noh'); Britons stress the third ('orr-ih-GAH-noh'). - pasta · PAH-stuh · /ˈpɑstə/
Americans say 'PAH-stuh'; Britons usually say 'PASS-tuh'. - adult · AD-ult · /ˈædəlt/
Both 'uh-DULT' and 'AD-ult' are common in American English. Britons more often stress the first syllable. - vase · VAYS · /veɪs/
Americans say 'vayss' or 'vayz'; Britons say 'vahz'. - clerk · KLURK · /klɝk/
Americans say 'klurk'; Britons say 'klark'. - dynasty · DY-nuh-stee · /ˈdaɪnəsti/
Americans say 'DY-nuh-stee'; Britons say 'DIN-uh-stee'. - khaki · KAH-kee · /ˈkɑki/
Americans say 'KAK-ee'; Britons say 'KAH-kee'. - figure · FIG-yer · /ˈfɪɡjɚ/
Americans add a y sound ('FIG-yer'); Britons say 'FIG-uh'. - laboratory · LAB-ruh-tor-ee · /ˈlæbrəˌtɔri/
Americans stress the first syllable ('LAB-ruh-tor-ee'); Britons stress the second ('luh-BORR-uh-tree').
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.
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.
Spellings that mislead
Everyday words whose letters point you toward the wrong sound.
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.