Pronunciation guides
How to pronounce tricky English words
Short guides for the words English speakers and learners stumble on most: silent letters, loanwords, spellings that fight the sound, US versus UK splits and misplaced stress. Each page has the plain spelling-out, US and UK audio, IPA and syllable stress.
235 words · US & UK audio · IPA and stress · free, no sign-up
Silent or unsounded letters (49)
- aisle
- almond
- answer
- apostle
- autumn
- calf
- castle
- clothes
- column
- condemn
- corps
- coup
- damn
- debt
- doubt
- fasten
- foreigner
- gnaw
- honest
- hymn
- indict
- island
- isthmus
- lamb
- mnemonic
- muscle
- paradigm
- plumber
- pneumatic
- pneumonia
- poignant
- psalm
- pseudo
- psychiatry
- psychology
- rapport
- receipt
- salmon
- shepherd
- solemn
- sovereign
- subtle
- sword
- tsunami
- wednesday
- whistle
- wrestle
- yacht
- yolk
Spelling that fights the sound (49)
- bologna
- bolognese
- borough
- bruschetta
- chameleon
- chaos
- chianti
- chocolate
- choir
- colonel
- comfortable
- cough
- czar
- debris
- depot
- draught
- epitome
- facade
- focaccia
- furlough
- gauge
- heinous
- hyperbole
- iron
- kindergarten
- lasagna
- laughter
- mauve
- miniature
- mosquito
- pharaoh
- phoenix
- plough
- quay
- quesadilla
- queue
- resume
- scissors
- segue
- sergeant
- slough
- sophomore
- temperature
- thorough
- tortilla
- trough
- worcestershire
- xylophone
- zealous
Loanwords (42)
- acai
- ballet
- baroque
- bouquet
- bourgeois
- cadre
- chandelier
- charcuterie
- chauffeur
- chic
- chipotle
- chorizo
- cognac
- connoisseur
- croissant
- doppelganger
- ennui
- ensemble
- entrepreneur
- fiance
- genre
- gnocchi
- gourmet
- guacamole
- latte
- liaison
- lingerie
- marquis
- naive
- paparazzi
- porsche
- pretzel
- prosciutto
- questionnaire
- quinoa
- renaissance
- rendezvous
- repertoire
- schadenfreude
- silhouette
- sriracha
- zeitgeist
US vs UK differences (32)
Tricky or misplaced stress (14)
Commonly confused (40)
- anise
- antarctic
- arctic
- asterisk
- athlete
- awry
- banal
- buffet
- cache
- cavalry
- espresso
- february
- fennel
- fluorescent
- hummus
- irony
- jewelry
- library
- macaron
- mayonnaise
- mischievous
- nuclear
- often
- pancreas
- prerogative
- prescription
- probably
- pronunciation
- realtor
- saffron
- sapphire
- secretary
- seizure
- sherbet
- supposedly
- synod
- triathlon
- turmeric
- valet
- vegetable