Improve Your English Pronunciation-3

Practice 1: Don’t let ‘added sounds’ in. In uneducated speech, sounds may be added to words because of their similarity to

other words or because of a mistaken idea of their spelling.

acid across attack attackedaureomycin column drowned escapefilm grievous height mischievousonce streptomycin wash Washington

Practice 2: Don’t let sounds leave out. When two vowels occur together in a word, one is sometimes left out so that a

syllable is lost. This sounds careless. A syllable is sometimes left out in words of three or more syllables. Consonants are often left out in careless speech, especially those in conjuncts.

all right arctic cruel diamonddiary district exactly flaccidgentlemen help hound hundredjewel poem president probablyrecognize regularly ruin success`succinct thousand told valuableviolet

Practice 3: Test Yourself with familiar words!

ague awry bade blackguardbreeches comely comfort comfortablecomptroller culinary cupboard disheveleddoughty faucet fiend flaccidforehead grievous heroine hiccoughignoramus indict longevity mayormisled museum often orgyparliamentary piquant prayer quayraspberry said says solacesubtle suite vehement vehicleverbatim victuals whooping cough womenzoology

Improve Your English Pronunciation-3

Practice 4: CH-sounds ‘ch’ is usually pronounced as Words taken from Greek may have Words taken from French may have

anarchist arch archaeology archangelarchbishop archdeacon arched archenemyarchery archipelago architect archivesarchway cache chagrin chaisechalice chamaign chameleon chamoischampagne chancre chandelier chaperoncharade chariot charlatan charmchartreuse chartulay chasm chassischateau chauffeur chauvinism chevychic chicanery chicory chiffronchimer chimera chimpanzee chintzchirography chiropodist chiropractor choirchord chore chorister choruschotic chromium echo inchoatemachinations machine matriarch monarchmonarchial monarchy moustache oligarchypatriarch schedule schism schizophrenicscholastic

Practice 5: Voiced or Voiceless?

average because college electricitygas his is pagodathis

Practice 6: Don’t retain archaic or uneducated pronunciations.

deaf drama faucet genuineignoramus length pincers radiatorradio rather rinse strengthtremendous wrestle

Practice 7: EX-sounds In words beginning with ex-, which have the stress on the first syllable, the ‘ex’ is

pronounced The ‘ex’ is pronounced if the stress falls on the second syllable and the second

syllable begins with a consonant. If the second and stressed syllable begins with a vowel, then the ‘ex’ is pronounced

either or.

Improve Your English Pronunciation-3

exact exercise exist explanation

Exceptions:exile exit luxurious luxury

Practice 8: Similar spelling but different pronunciation and meaning

adjoin adjourn aural oralcoral corral crochet crotchetcroquet croquette era err errorviola Viola precedents precedenceslough slough slough lineament liniment

Practice 9: Stress on the right syllable

acumen alias brigand cabalcement clematis condolence contributedecade demonstrate disciple elixirepiscopal exigency exponent gondolagrimace horizon hyperbole impiousimpotent incognito influence integrallyceum municipal museum policerobust sepulcher theatre vagary

Practice 10: Words ending in –able

admirable amicable applicable comparabledespicable equitable formidable hospitableindefatigable irreparable irrevocable lamentablepreferable reputable

Practice 11: Some Learned Words

aborigines abstemious aggrandizement bestialcongeries Deity, the demise demoniacalegregious epitome harbinger heinousinveigle lugubrious malinger phlegmaticpromulgate recluse spontaneity squalorunguent zealot

Practice 12: Pronounce in two ways.

abdomen adult advertisement almondalternate (n/adj) alternate (v) amenable apparatusaspirant banal betroth betrothal

Improve Your English Pronunciation-3

brusque calliope cerebral chastisementchauffeur coadjutor combatant conduitcontractor dais decadent defectdetail (n) diocesan exquisite extantextraordinary finance financier galagladiolus grovel harass hovelillustrate indissolubly inquiry isolatejocund obligatory patronize penalizepersist pianist quinine rationreservoir resource route sacrilegiousvaudeville version

Practice 13: Proper names

Aachen Adonis Aeschylus Aix-la-ChapelleAlbuquerque Aphrodite Arab ArkansasArkansas River Balzac Bartok BayreuthBeauchamp Beethoven Berlioz BoccaccioBoise Buenos Aires Butte CaenCairo (Egypt) Cairo (Ill.) Calais CannesCaribbean Cellini Celtic CervantesCheyenne Chicago Chisholm ChopinCzech de Falla Debussy Delhi (India)Delhi (US) Derby (Br) Derby (US) Des MoinesDon Juan Don Quixote Dostoevsky DumasDvorak Goethe Greenwich Village GuadalajaraHaydn Himalaya Hiroshima Houston (Tex.)Houston Street Iowa Italian KievKnopf Lima (Ohio) Lima (Peru) Los AngelesLourdes Lyons MacLeod MadrasMaeterlinck Magi Maori MarseillesMaugham McLean Milan MissouriMonroe Montana Monte Video MoscowNice Nike Odysseus OedipusPeiping Pepys/Samuel Pepys Pierce PraguePurcell Reagan Rheimes Rio decoits. JaneiroRoosevelt Saint-Saens Schuyler SchuylkillShostakovitch Spokane Spuyten Duyvil St. LouisThames (Br) Thames (US) Transvaal TriesteTurre Haute Van Wyck Versailles Villa-LobosWagner Xavier Yeats YpresZeus

Improve Your English Pronunciation-3

Practice 14: Latin Words

a fortiori a posteriori a priori ad infinitumad libitum alma mater alumnus anno Dominibona fide carpe diem corpus delicti datade facto de jure dramatis personae ex cathedraex officio ex post facto extempore finisgratis habeus corpus imprimatur in absentiain extremis in toto non sequitur obiter dictumper diem persona non grata prima facie pro ratapro tempore quasi re sine diestatus status quo stratum subpoenaultimatum verbatim via viva vocevox populi