We will continue this course with an overview of other commonly mispronounced words (in no particular order):
comfortable – if you “come for a table” to a furniture shop, it will hopefully be comfortable, although it doesn't rhyme with it.
elite – the elite is certainly not a “lite version” of the population. Don't try to make them rhyme.
pour – although the word looks like it has a French origin and “ou” in French words is usually pronounced [uː], in this case the origin is not French, and neither is the pronunciation. On the other hand, the word “poor” can be pronounced either with [ʊ] or with [ɔː] (both are equally valid). If you use the former, you can remember not to use the “poor” pronunciation for “pour”.
pyramid – the “pyr” in the word “pyramid” has nothing to do with the prefix “pyro-”, which comes from Greek and is used in the word pyromania.
grind, rind – there are only 4 English words that end with “rind”: rind, grind, regrind, and tamarind. Tamarind is a tree, and it is the only one of these in which “rind” is pronounced as one would expect: [rɪnd]. In the other three, it is pronounced as [raɪnd].
vinegar is used to make food more sour. Although the word is related to vine [vaɪn], it is not pronounced so. And when we are at it, don't confuse the pronunciation of “vine” and “wine”; a “vine” is a plant on which grapes grow and is pronounced with “v” at the beginning (as in “very”), “wine” is the liquid you can make out of the grapes and is pronounced with “w” at the beginning (as in “wow”).
alien – although a lion would certainly be an unwelcome alien at your home, don't pronounce them the same. Just remember that an alien is not your ally.
bull – some people pronounce the “u” wrongly as [ʌ], as in “cut”, but it is the same “u” as in “put”.
bullet – as in the previous case, “u” is pronounced as [ʊ].
ballet – somewhat surprisingly, the final “t” remains silent.
angel – unlike many other words beginning with ang-, such as angle, “angel” is pronounced with [eɪndʒ] at the beginning.
scene – “sc” in this word is pronounced just as [s]. The same is true also for scenario.
muscle – another word in which “sc” is pronounced just as “s”.
folk – do you remember the chapter about letter groups with a silent “L”? Again, “folk” is one of the words in which it is silent (in most English dialects).
target – it would certainly be possible get some tar in order to mark a target. Although target is etymologically related neither to “tar” nor to “get”, it is a way to remember that the “g” is as in “get”, not as “j” as in “jet”.
English pronunciation can be exhausting, right? Here, take a few snacks:
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pudding – if you drop a bowl of pudding, it forms a puddle (pronounced with [pʌd]), but when it is still in the bowl, it is, well, with “poo”.
Jakub Marian