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How to pronounce WORD

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English Pronunciation

IPA: /wɜːd/

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TRANSCRIPT

Hey, it’s Hadar. Thank you for being here.

Today I have some really good news for you.  Have you ever wished that you’d have someone sitting next to you when you’re practicing your pronunciation or saying new words, telling you, “Yes, that was awesome”, or “No, you got to work on that a bit more”? Well, now you have it and it’s totally free.

Google just launched a new tool called Pronto. Pronto is basically your personal pronunciation coach. As you may or may not know, and I talked about it in this video here, Google now writes the words phonetically when you’re searching for how to pronounce a word.

So, for example, if you were to write ‘how to pronounce arbitrary’, you will see it written out phonetically. Not in IPA, what you can find in other dictionaries, but it’s a representation, a visual representation, using the English alphabet of how to pronounce a word.

Now, if you look closely, you’ll see that they’ve added a small button that says ‘Practice’. If you click on the ‘Practice’, it’s going to ask you to record the word, and when you record it, it is going to give you feedback whether or not you pronounced it correctly.

So you’re going to have a visual feedback. It’s going to color in red the sounds or the places in the words that were not clear. But also, it’s going to tell you exactly what you need to do and what you have done differently that is preventing you from being clear.

And it is so incredibly helpful. And the reason why I’m so passionate about it is because I had the privilege of helping Google’s developers and best minds develop this product.

So, I actually told them all about how I give feedback and how I coach my students and how I tell them what to focus on, and what I say exactly to help them get the right sound. And put it into this incredible tool that is there to help you, and it’s absolutely free.

Now, a few things you need to know in order for you to start using this feature.

First of all, it was just launched last month. So, perhaps, you still don’t have access to it, although you will have soon. Maybe by the time you’re watching this video, everyone has access to it. You can only use it on your mobile devices, and your search language should be set to English.

You need to be signed into your Google account, and if you’re using your iPhone, it’s best if you use Safari and not Chrome. By the way, this feature only works with American pronunciation, not British pronunciation.

Okay, so let’s give it a try. I’m using my phone, I’m using, I have an iPhone, so I’m using Safari, and I’m signed into my Google account, as you can see. Now, let’s try ‘how to pronounce authentic’. Great.

So, first of all, I see the the phonetic representation. ‘aa’ is the A as in father – aa. Then we have ‘then’ – t-h-e-n – that’s the ‘e’ as in red. It’s in bold, so that’s the primary stress. ‘aa-then-tuhk’. The ‘uh’ is a schwa, so basically you don’t pronounce the ‘tik’ there, it’s ‘tuhk’. Authentic.

I can play it: authentic. I can play it in slow motion as well: au-then-tic. Good, which helps me understand better what I need to do, and then I do. I just try and practice it myself.

Authentic (speaks with an accent). Now, what I did is I mispronounced 3 sounds and actually detected it perfectly. I said O instead of aa, a common mistake. I pronounced a T instead of a TH – ‘ten’.  And I put an ‘ee’ sound instead of a schwa – ‘teek’. Oh-ten-teek, Oh-ten-teek.

So, it recognized that I mispronounced those three sounds, just quite impressive. And the ‘aa’ as in father – you may have mispronounced the aa. So I’m going to take a look here. And it says, “try to open your mouth wide and relax your lips.” aa, instead of O, aa.

“Your tongue should be low and flat in the back.” Cause if it’s high, O, it’s going to sound more like an Oo. aa, aa. And then you have some examples here that you can play in practice with: job, hot – hot, office – office. Keep in mind the notes that you were given, okay. So you can actually apply it. Try to visualize it.

And then I’m going to move on. You may have mispronounced TH. “Try to bring the tongue to your top teeth.” Right? “Then let the air out slowly between your tongue and teeth.” Right? ‘TH’ – not T.  And then gave me some example words here: think, thanks, theory, method. Great. So I can practice with. ‘then’, ‘then’.

And then you have mispronounced ‘uh’. “Make sure your tongue is on the bottom of your mouth as you make a very short ‘uh’ sound.” uh, uh, uh, tuhk, okay. So, first of all, work unit by unit, syllable by syllable.

Now, let’s say I practice it a bit, I tried it a few times. I practiced the aa, practiced the TH. And then, what you need to do is just practice it again. Try it again. Practice the sounds that were detected, drill the words, watch my YouTube videos, come back to it and try it again. Fun!

So this is a really great tool that will help you take action and start changing and seeing the change.  Because watching YouTube videos is one thing, and obviously that’s something that you do, you’re learning from YouTube, otherwise you wouldn’t have been here. But then, you need to take it to the next step, which means active practice.

And sometimes people tend to not do it or avoid that, that stage because they say to themselves, “Oh, but I don’t know if I’m doing this right.”

So, now there are no more excuses and you got to start taking action. Again, remember that you have to use your phone. For now, the search language needs to be set to English. When you get to the pronunciation box, make sure it’s only set to ‘American pronunciation’ and sign into your Google account.

Okay. I can’t wait to know what you think. I absolutely love it. I know I’m not objective, but I love it. And I hope you will too.

Be sure to subscribe if you want to learn how to pronounce the sounds that you’re practicing using Pronto.

Have a beautiful week and I’ll see you next week in the next video. Bye.

Video Transcript
Section 1
Well hey there I’m Emma from mmmEnglish! Today I’ve got twenty of the most common English words to share with you. I’m going to show you how to pronounce them correctly but even better how to actually pronounce these words naturally.

This will help you to understand fast-talking native speakers but also help you to sound more relaxed as you begin to speak English more fluently.

My main focus today is to give you lots of practice so don’t just watch this lesson okay? I want you to practise out loud with me.

And if you’d like to take everything that you learned from today’s lesson and practise regularly with other people then I really encourage you to check out Lingoda, one of the world’s best online language schools. Anyone who watches this channel knows that I’m a huge fan of Lingoda and in case you haven’t already noticed, they have a new look and I like it.

To celebrate, Lingoda have just introduced a range of new quizzes and extra homework to their lessons so that you can keep learning even when you’re not in class. As a teacher, one of the main reasons I recommend Lingoda to my students is because they offer an easy-to-follow structured path to reaching virtually any language certification.

And even if you simply want to improve your conversation skills, Lingoda small group classes are available twenty-four hours a day seven days a week to help you get the practice that you need.

The next Lingoda Sprint is just around the corner too. This is a twelve-week challenge designed to boost your language skills and if you complete it you can get up to a hundred percent of your payment back which is crazy good!

I share more details about all of that up here in this video but if you’re not quite ready to jump in and take this Sprint, Lingoda offer lots of different options to suit your learning goals and your availability including the chance to experience their classes for seven days absolutely free and that’s all before you commit to regular study with them.

If this sounds like something you’re interested in then make sure you check out the link in the description below. I will put the link to their Instagram feed down there too because there’s lots of student success stories there and they’re always great to read and if you do decide to jump in and start the Sprint, make sure you use this code right here which will give you a discount at the checkout.

And if you’re already a student of Lingoda, make sure you let me know how your classes are going down in the comments below.

The most common words in English are grammatical words, they’re articles, they’re prepositions, they’re pronouns and even some really simple verbs that we use every day.

And because they’re so common and they get used so often, native English speakers will use them really quickly and efficiently as we speak which means that the pronunciation of the word that you learn in a dictionary or from your teacher at school may not be what it truly sounds like when a native English speaker actually speaks it.

So today we’ll talk about stressed and unstressed forms, linking and contractions. These are all really important aspects of English pronunciation that you need to understand if you want to use English fluently.

I’m going to share them in no particular order, mostly because it’s really difficult to know which one of these words is actually the most common. They are all extremely common and they probably jostle around for the number one position.

Of course, I will be sharing all of these words in my accent, my Australian English accent. There are some slight variations in the way that these words are pronounced across English accents, though lots of similarities as well.

20. at

Starting at number twenty. Sometimes you’ll hear this word stressed as at with that strong vowel sound.

• You need to be here at three o’clock.

So when we’re stressing at, we’re emphasising and making the meaning stronger.

You need to be here exactly at three o’clock. Not before, not after, at three.

But most of the time when you hear this word it’s not stressed and the vowel sound reduces down to become that reduced vowel sound, the schwa.

• I’ll meet you at the car.
• I’ll pick you up at eight.

Your turn.

19. do

Now we have the verb do. Now of course, it conjugates doesn’t it?

It can be do or does depending on the subject so what you need to remember is that when do is the main verb in a sentence, it’s usually stressed and it has that vowel sound.

• I do it often.

But as an auxiliary verb, if it’s helping the main verb in a sentence then it usually reduces down so do becomes

• Do you want to come?

Your turn.

• Does she need to see it?

Try it.

18. you

So as a pronoun, you can be stressed especially when you need to clarify who you’re talking to or who you’re talking about.

• I didn’t ask you, I asked her.

So that’s when we hear it really strong. But most of the time when you hear this word, you just hear.

• Do you know who did it?
• I’ll meet you there.

Your turn.

17. as

As can be stressed. I guess it didn’t take as long as last time but usually, it’s an unstressed word and it sounds a little more like.

Again we’re using that schwa sound for the unstressed vowel sound.

• It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.

One pronunciation pattern to look for but more importantly, to listen for is the way that words that start with a vowel sound often link to the last sound of the word before it when spoken naturally. Now as starts with a vowel sound so this is the perfect time to mention it and to show you how it works.

• It wasn’t as hard as I thought.

16. he

Now pronouns, grammatical words that start with the letter H like he, him, her. We can even include have and has, they’re often pronounced without the H sound when we’re speaking quickly.

• Does he want to come?

Try it.

• I’ll ask him if you want.

But you’ve got to remember, if you’re using this reduced form and you’re not pronouncing the H you must be linking this word to the one before it okay? You can’t drop the H sound when it’s the first word in a sentence and say really liked the party.

You have to pronounce that H.

• He really liked the party.

But you can drop it in the middle of a sentence.

• I want to buy her a car.

Try it.

15. have (has)

Now we have the verb have which is another very popular English verb so like do, we conjugate have depending on the subject. So sometimes it’s has, in the past it’s had. And in all of those examples, we’re using the strong vowel sound.

Now when have is the main verb in a sentence, it’s stressed. Though sometimes just like with those pronouns, native speakers will drop that H sound when we’re speaking quickly.

• She has three dogs.
• I have two.

You probably know that have is an auxiliary verb in all of the perfect tenses which is why it’s one of the most common English verbs, we see it a lot.

And when it’s spoken naturally, we often use contractions, so instead of saying:

• I have = I’ve
• we have = we’ve
• he has = he’s

But even as an auxiliary verb, it can be stressed especially if we want to emphasise that something is true so I can easily say:

• I’ve been to India.

So it’s unstressed there but what if someone said: No you haven’t.

• I have, I have been to India – twice.

14. but

Grammatically, but is used in several different ways. It can be stressed and you’ll hear that strong vowel sound.

• I’ll help you but I need a favour from you first.

More often than not, but is unstressed and then the pronunciation changes.

• But I don’t want to.
• They ate it, but they didn’t like it.

Try it.

13. not

Now this is an unusual one to include in this list because usually, we stress negative forms in English.

• I’m not hungry.

But the adverb not is usually almost always linked to the verb in spoken English. We say:

• I don’t like it.
• We can’t believe it.

So most of the time, not is not pronounced as not. It’s contracted and it sounds like.

• can’t
• won’t
• haven’t
• hasn’t

12. for

It is quite unusual to hear this word pronounced as for in spoken English so when you hear for, we’re usually referring to the noun, the number four.

For is usually unstressed and again, that vowel sound reduces down to the schwa. Nothing right?

• I bought this apple for you.
• Can you get one for me?

Try.

11. it

Ninety-nine per cent of the time you hear it being used in English, it’s unstressed so when I said it just then, I stressed it so that you knew which word I was talking about but usually it sounds a lot more like.

It’s that schwa sound again and we usually use a stop T at the end as well so no air is released. Instead of saying it, the air is caught by our tongue. It’s caught there so that we can move on to the next word really quickly.

• I want it now.
• Get it out of the car.

Try it.

Goodness, there are actually lots of reduced forms in that one aren’t there? Get it out of the car.

Now I’ve created a whole learning playlist that explains the different ways that we link words together in spoken English so if you haven’t seen it yet, absolutely watch all of the videos up in this playlist and even if you have, it’s the type of practice that you need to review, you need to come back to so it might be a good time to go back to those lessons and remind yourself about those familiar ways that we link sounds together in English.

10. that

That can be stressed or unstressed, we say that when it’s stressed with that vowel sound so when it’s used as a determiner to explain which specific thing we’re talking about you’ll hear it stressed because it needs to be clear.

We’ll say: not this one, that one.

And as an adverb, it will probably also be stressed too. We’ll say

• I’m not that hungry.

But when that is used as a conjunction and it’s connecting two clauses together, it’s unstressed, it reduces down to. It’s that schwa sound again, the vowel sound-reducing down from that to

• I told her that I’d be there.

Your turn.

9. on

On. Here’s another example of a grammatical word that starts with a vowel sound so when it’s said naturally, it’s often linked to the word that comes before it.

• It’s on my computer.
• We’ll go on Sunday.

Try it.

8. in

The same rules apply for in, when we use it naturally we need to focus on linking it to the sound that comes before it.

• I’ll meet you in there.

Try it.

That extra linking sound between two vowels there is a bit of a pronunciation trick. Watch this lesson up here if you want to learn a little bit more about this type of linking.

7. a
8. an

Let’s talk about the articles a and an because they are unstressed most of the time so usually when we want to stress and clarify to say that it’s just one of something that we want, we say one.

So we don’t say I’ll have a carrot. We say:

• I’ll have one carrot, please.

So most of the time, these articles are unstressed. We don’t hear a and an, we just hear that reduced sound.

• Can you take a break?
• It was an excellent event.

Your turn.

5. and

Now of course and must make our list of most commonly used words right? When it’s stressed, we say and but it becomes and unstressed. And often we drop that D sound at the end and compare these with me. When we’re stressing I would say

• You and me are going.

And unstressed, you and me are going.

• Come and visit me.

Try it.

4. of

How could we forget of? It’s almost always unstressed as well. So instead of saying we just need to relax our mouth, relax that vowel sound down to

• Would you like a cup of tea?

Notice that link between of and the consonant before it, cup of tea.

3. to

Now to, when it’s spelt like this is not usually stressed. It’s usually unstressed so we reduce it down from to to

• I want to go to the beach.

Try it.

2. be

Be is the most commonly used verb in English but it does have several different forms, doesn’t it? Depending on the subject and the tense so just like do and have, the be verb can be used as a main verb in a sentence.

• I’ll be home soon.

So instead of really stressing that verb be, it’s just a shorter version.

• I’ll be home soon.

You will definitely hear the unstressed forms of be when it’s used as an auxiliary verb in the continuous tense, in the passive voice. You’re going to hear

• I am as I’m going.
• We are as we’re waiting.
• Or it is as it’s raining.

Right? It’s really common to hear these contractions when the be verb is the auxiliary verb.

When it’s used in the past tense the be verb is usually reduced as well. Again we see that schwa sound. Was becomes

• I was upstairs earlier.

Try it.

• They were really hungry.

Your turn.

1. the

Last but definitely not the least is the. You won’t hear it pronounced like the very often, maybe just in your English class, you’ll definitely hear a shorter version.

And you’ll also hear the, that’s our favourite schwa sound making another appearance.

So with the word the, we have two unstressed forms because the pronunciation changes depending on the word that follows it. If the word the is followed by a word that starts with a consonant sound, then that’s when we hear that lazy schwa sound again.

• You left it in the car.

Try it.

If the word the is followed by a vowel sound then it’s pronounced. Can you hear the difference?

• How do we get to the airport?

Try it.

You made it all the way through! Awesome work! Make sure you bookmark this video save it to a playlist because you’ll need to come back to it and review it and practise several times with me. It’s not the kind of thing that you’ll just instantly know, you’ve got to put in the practice and you’ll be able to practise using all of these words naturally and in context in any of my imitation lessons.

Remember if you want to learn a little more about linking and naturally spoken English, then definitely check out this playlist up here, you will absolutely love it.

And I’ll see you in there!