English is a language governed by rules. How you spell a word and the way it is pronounced, can be quite different. Here, we will list down some of the most commonly mispronounced words.  These words may have a simple spelling but pronunciation can still turn out to be complicated. This list includes some everyday words which will take you by surprise. Let’s have a look.

Commonly mispronounced words

1. Ask

It is very commonly observed that people pronounce ask as ‘aks’ or ‘axe’, especially native English speakers. An everyday used word, such a natural error is termed as ‘metathesis’. Are you pronouncing it right?

2. February

Yes, most people pronounce this month as ‘Feb-yoo-ehree’. Get rid of the ‘yoo’ sound as the correct UK English pronunciation is ‘Feb-roo-ehree’

3. Schedule

The ‘c’ here in the spelling confuses us to pronounce it as ‘sked-ule’, which is wrong. The right way to say this word is ‘she-dule’, as per the British pronunciation.

4. Espresso

With the rising café culture in our modern society, almost all of us fumble when reading out this word from the menu. It’s not ‘ex-presso’ but ‘ess-presso’.



5. Niche

This is another word widely mispronounced by English speakers. Don’t say ‘ni-tch’ instead say ‘ni-sh’. It should end with a soft ‘sh’ sound, just like the word, cache, which is commonly pronounced as ‘cash-ay’.

6. Escape

Just like espresso sometimes become expresso, this word ‘escape’ is usually pronounced as ‘ex-cape’. You got the hint.

7. Forte

You may not pronounce the ‘e’ sound at the end of ‘catche’ or ‘nitche’ but the rule differs for this word. It is to be pronounced with the ‘e’ sound in the end.

8. Hierarchy

Talking about hierarchy in organizations, don’t do the mistake of saying it as ‘hi-archy’. The ‘e’ is very much there and needs to be said with impact.

Conclusion

When learning English, our focus should be on getting the pronunciation right as a slip of tongue here and there can change the meaning of a sentence. The list above includes just a handful of words, there are uncountable such everyday words that we casually pronounce in the wrong manner. Therefore, a word of wisdom is to regularly listen to good speakers and note the way they say a particular word. Only by listening will you be able to improve your English speaking. All the best.

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