Commonly Mispronounced Words

David Deterding

A B C D E F G H  I  J L M N O P R S T V W
abolition/ˌæbəˈlɪʃn/He fought for the abolition of slavery.
aborigine/ˌæbəˈrɪʤəni/Australia has lots of aborigines.
absurd/əbˈsɜ:d/You gave an absurd reply.
academic/ˌækəˈdemɪk/Her academic achievements are impressive.
admirable/ˈædmərəbl/That was an admirable response.
adolescence/ˌædəˈlesəns/The problems of adolescence are frightening.
advertisement /ədˈvɜ:tɪsmənt/That is an effective advertisement.
amateur/ˈæmətə/He is an amateur sportsman.
ambulance/ˈæmbjʊləns/The ambulance arrived immediately.
analysis/əˈnæləsɪs/Your data analysis is flawed.
anniversary/ˌænɪˈvɜ:səri/My wedding anniversary is next week.
apparatus/ˌæpəˈreɪtəs/The breathing apparatus is broken.
atmosphere/ˈætməsfɪə/There is a bad atmosphere in the room.
baggage/ˈbægɪʤ/Please leave your baggage outside.
bargain/ˈbɑ:gɪn/I found a real bargain last night.
bogus/ˈbəʊgəs/He made a bogus insurance claim.
bourgeois/ˈbɔ:ʒwɑ:/Their lifestyle is rather bourgeois.
buffet/ˈbʊfeɪ/That buffet dinner is excellent value.
calendar/ˈkælɪndə/This calendar is out of date.
callous/ˈkæləs/His attitude was quite callous.
canary/kəˈneəri/Your pet canary is very beautiful.
carpenter/ˈkɑ:pəntə/My father worked as a carpenter.
certificate/səˈtɪfɪkət/Here is my marriage certificate.
chameleon/kəˈmi:ljən/Chameleons can quickly change colour.
character/ˈkærəktə/He has a good character.
children/ˈʧɪldrən/I have two grown-up children.
circuit/ˈsɜ:kɪt/The electrical circuit is broken.
circumstance/ˈsɜ:kəmstæns/The circumstances are a bit suspicious.
colleague/ˈkɒli:g/All my colleagues are wonderful.
comment/ˈkɒment/He made a really nasty comment.
committee/kəˈmɪti/I want to join the welfare committee.
comparable/ˈkɒmpərəbl/The pay in those two jobs is comparable.
competent/ˈkɒmpɪtənt/She is competent at her job.
connoiseur/ˌkɒnəsˈɜ:/He is an art connoisseur.
contribute/kənˈtrɪbju:t/She has contributed a lot of money.
course/kɔ:s/This course is rather difficult.
culinery/ˈkʌlɪnəri/My culinery skills are rather limited.
debris/ˈdebri:/After the crash, the water was full of debris.
debt/ˈdet/He has run up a huge debt.
December/dɪˈsembə/My birthday is in December.
definition/ˌdefɪˈnɪʃn/The definition of that word is not too clear.
delegate (N)/ˈdelɪgət/He wil be a delegate at that conference.
demolition/ˌdeməˈlɪʃn/The demolition of the house will proceed soon.
demonstrate/ˈdemənstreɪt/Please demonstrate how this works.
deposit/dɪˈpɒzɪt/I want to open a deposit account at this bank.
deteriorate/dɪˈtɪərɪəreɪt/Her health has deteriorated just recently.
develop/dɪˈveləp/We plan to develop this land soon.
diameter/daɪˈæmɪtə/The diameter of this circle is two centimetres.
diplomatic/ˌdɪpləˈmætɪk/He gave a very diplomatic reply.
disaster/dɪˈzɑ:stə/The world is facing ecological disaster.
discount/ˈdɪskaʊnt/Do you offer any discounts on your services?
distribute/dɪˈstrɪbju:t/We plan to distribute the food soon.
dyslexia/dɪsˈleksɪə/My son suffers from dyslexia.
efficient/ɪˈfɪʃənt/The response was very efficient.
electricity/ɪˌlekˈtrɪsɪti/Electricity here is rather expensive.
enthusiasm/ɪnˈθju:ziæzəm/You need to show a bit more enthusiasm.
equal/ˈi:kwəl/The pay for men and women should be equal.
equation/ɪˈkweɪʒən/This equation is rather complicated.
excuse (N)/ɪkˈskju:s/Don't give me such a lame excuse.
film/fɪlm/That was a wonderful film.
formidable/fəˈmɪdəbl/She has a formidable temper.
fortunate/ˈfɔ:ʧənət/I have been really fortunate recently.
futile/ˈfju:taɪl/he made a futile attempt to apologise.
genuine/ˈʤenjuɪn/I don't believe this is a genuine diamond.
government/ˈgʌvənmənt/The government will soon raise taxes.
gymnasium/ʤɪmˈneɪzɪəm/I try to go to the gymnasium twice a week.
H/eɪʧ/'Hotel' begins with an H.
illustrate/ˈɪləstreɪt/Please illustrate the issue with a good example.
increment/ˈɪŋkrəmənt/You should get a small increment in your pay this year.
informative/ɪnˈfɔ:mətɪv/Her presentation was quite informative.
initiative/ɪˈnɪʃətɪv/You need to take the initiative.
injure/ˈɪnʤə/Be careful, or you will injure yourself.
institute/ˈɪnstɪtju:t/This is an institute of education.
interpret/ɪnˈtɜ:prɪt/I can't interpret what she said.
interrogative/ˌɪntəˈrɒgətɪv/An interrogative is usually a question.
jeopardy/ˈʤepədi/If you do that again, you will put us in jeopardy.
language/ˈlæŋgwɪʤ/That child is always using bad language.
literature/ˈlɪtrəʧə/I want to study literature at university.
lounge/laʊnʤ/Don't lounge about all day.
luxury/ˈlʌkʃəri/I can't afford such luxury.
maintenance/ˈmeɪntənəns/That shop handles computer maintenance.
mechanical/məˈkænɪkl/I want to study mechanical engineering.
message/ˈmesɪʤ/Did you get the message I sent you yesterday?
mischievous/ˈmɪsʧɪvəs/The boy looked at me with a mischievous grin.
moral/ˈmɒrəl/Moral education is very important.
morale/məˈrɑ:l/The morale here is not very high at the moment.
motor/ˈməʊtə/The motor seems to be broken.
motto/ˈmɒtəʊ/My motto is "Work hard, play hard."
national/ˈnæʃənl/National Education is important.
opportunity/ˌɒpəˈʧu:nɪti/I will soon have an opportunity to study again.
parabola/pəˈræbələ/Please draw this prabola on your graph paper.
participate/pɑ:ˈtɪsɪpeɪt/I will not participate in that debate.
passenger/ˈpæsɪnʤə/All passengers should disembark here.
penalty/ˈpenəlti/The penalty for spitting is a heavy fine.
percent/pəˈsent/The inflation rate is two percent.
perimeter/pəˈrɪmɪtə/The robbers climbed over the perimeter fence.
picture/ˈpɪkʧə/That is a picture of my wife.
poetry/ˈpəʊɪtri/Studying poetry is good for the soul.
precedent/ˈpresɪdənt/There is no precedent for your action.
precis/ˈpreɪsi:/Please write a precis of this article.
preparatory/prəˈpærətri/We can start some preparatory work now.
presentation/ˌprezənˈteɪʃn/Her presentation was entirely convincing.
pressure/ˈpreʃə/Too much pressure is bad for te health.
pronunciation/prəˌnʌnsiˈeɪʃn/Good pronunciation is important.
purchase/ˈpɜ:ʧəs/The purchase of the house will soon be complete.
receipt/rɪˈsi:t/Remember to keep the receipt.
receptive/rɪˈseptɪv/I am always receptive to new ideas.
rescue/ˈreskju:/I hope they will rescue us soon.
restaurant/ˈrestrɔ:nt/That restaurant is a bit expensive.
robot/ˈrəʊbɒt/This job could be done by a robot.
sandwich/ˈsænwɪʤ/I will have a cheese sandwich for lunch.
schizophrenic/ˌskɪtsəˈfrenɪk/My cousin is a schizophrenic.
separate (Adj)/ˈsepərət/We went our separate ways.
sheikh/ʃeɪk/The Sheikh of Kuwait will visit here soon.
shove/ʃʌv/He shoved me off the ball.
siphon/ˈsaɪfən/We need to siphon off all the water.
society/səˈsaɪəti/We must build a compassionate society.
souvenir/ˌsu:vəˈnɪə/I will buy lots of souvenirs on my trip.
specific/spəˈsɪfɪk/Do you have any specific complaints?
statistics/stəˈtɪstɪks/These statistics look rather dubious.
status/ˈsteɪtəs/What is the status of my application?
subtle/ˈsʌtl/He gave me a subtle hint.
success/səkˈses/The success of the project depends on your work.
sword/sɔ:d/He drew his sword and killed the bandit.
thermometer/θəˈmɒmɪtə/A thermometer can tell you the temperature.
vehement/ˈvi:əmənt/He gave a vehement denial.
vehicle/ˈvi:ɪkl/Your vehicle is blocking the exit.
vice versa/ˌvaɪsəˈvɜ:sə/I will help her and, vice versa, she will help me.
worry/ˈwʌri/Why worry about the future?