Here are eight words you’ve told us you find hard to pronounce in English.
Watch some English learners pronounce them and learn how we say them in British and American English. It’s a great way to improve pronunciation.
You’ll learn how we say: foreigner, athlete, climb, indict, dangerous, extraordinary, analysis, to analyze, and lure. You’ll also get some practice with shifting words stress and tips on how to pronounce long words by backchaining.
Click here to see videos on more words that are hard to pronounce.
Click here to see some of our grammar videos.
Click here to learn more about British and American English.
Words that are hard to pronounce
Are you ready to practice your English pronunciation?
We’re back with some difficult words to pronounce.
Tricky ones.
We’re going to show you how we say them in American English.
And British English!
Hi, I’m Vicki and I’m British.
And I’m Jay and I’m American.
And here’s how this works. Our viewers have sent us suggestions for words that are hard to pronounce.
Thank you everyone who sent us ideas.
Yeah. They were great and we’ve asked some English learners to try to say them.
We’ll show you how they said them and then how we say them.
So, let’s get going. What’s the first one?
Forei…
For… Foreigner.
This word’s tricky because that g in the middle is a silent letter.
Foreigner. Yes, I’m a foreigner. Me too. I’m from Britain.
Ha! She got it right.
Yes, the spelling is confusing here.
Here’s how we say it.
Foreigner.
Foreigner.
There’s a LITTLE difference in how we both say this word.
Really? What’s that?
The first vowel sound. In British English, I say ‘o’ but you say ‘a’. See if you can hear it.
Foreigner.
Foreigner.
We’ve made another video about that sound, haven’t we?
Yes. I’ll put a link here. Try saying it with our learners.
Foreigner.
Foreigner.
Foreigner.
Foreigner.
OK, what’s next?
Let’s see.
Athlete.
Ath… late?
Ha! So what’s the final vowel sound here?
Listen to how we say it.
Athlete.
Athlete.
So it’s an eee sound.
And the stress is on the first syllable. ATHlete.
An athlete is someone who competes in sports, or someone who’s good at sports, like Serena Williams or Cristiano Ronaldo.
Or like me. I’m a great athlete.
Really?
Yeah! I’m very good at finger wrestling.
The other tricky thing about this word is you need a th sound. Ath th Athlete. Say it with our learners.
Athlete.
Athlete.
Let’s look at another one.
OK.
Climb.
Climb.
Oh, they’re both wrong! OK, the first thing is the b is silent. It’s climb, not climbe.
Yeah, and the vowel sound is eye.
Let’s hear some more learners.
Climb.
Climb.
Climb.
Climb.
They were very good.
Say it with us.
Climb.
Climb.
Have you ever climbed a mountain Jay?
No, but yesterday I had to climb over the dog to get into bed.
OK, can we have another one?
This one’s hard.
Indict.
Indict.
Indict.
Wow it is hard – they’re all wrong!
Indict… Indict?
Indict.
He got it. He did well. Listen to how we say it.
Indict.
Indict.
So the letter c is silent.
I hear this word a lot in the US. What does it mean?
It’s a verb and it means to officially charge someone with a crime.
We often hear news stories about people being indicted or getting indicted – so being charged with a crime.
Don’t you say indict in British English?
We can, but it’s more common in American English. Say it with us.
Indict.
Indict.
Let’s have something easier now.
OK.
Dangerous.
Dangerous.
Oh nearly. But the first vowel sound is ay.
Like in the word day.
Dangerous.
Dangerous.
What’s the most dangerous thing you’ve ever done, Jay?
Climbing over the dog to get into bed.
Say it with our learners.
Dangerous.
Dangerous.
Dangerous.
OK, next we have a long one.
Great.
Extraordinary.
Extraordinary.
Extra… extraordinary.
They’re nearly right.
Yes, I’d understand them all
The thing is we write extra, but we don’t say the ‘a’ at the end. We go straight on to ‘or’.
Extraordinary.
Extraordinary.
This is an extraordinary word.
Yes, because its pronunciation is unexpected and surprising!
So how many syllables does it have?
Ex-traor-din-ar-y – five! And in British English, it’s interesting because sometimes we say it with four syllables.
Really?
Yeah, extraordinary. Extra-or-din-ary – four.
Extraordinary.
Here’s a useful tip for saying long words like this. It’s called back chaining. You start at the back of the word and work forward. Say it with me.
ry – dinary – ordinary – extraordinary.
Let’s try it with five syllables now.
ry – nary – dinary – ordinary – extraordinary.
OK, what’s next?
It’s a very useful word.
Analysis. Analysis.
Anal… analysis.
Analysis.
Analysis.
Analyisis.
Anlaysis. Oh. Analysis.
Anal. Sis.
It’s a hard one.
Yeah. Lots of my students have problems with this word.
Analysis.
Analysis.
So the stress is on the second syllable. NAL. aNALysis.
But some of our learners got it right.
Analysis.
Analysis.
Analysis.
Analysis.
Analysis.
They did well.
So what does analysis mean?
Oh, an analysis is an examination of something – a study to try to understand it better.
We might do data analysis or statistical analysis – or psychoanalysis
And if you’re ill they might send your blood samples to a laBORatory for analysis.
She means a LABoratory.
Now analysis is a noun, but the verb is ‘to analyse’. And that’s tricky because then the stress is on the first syllable.
To analyse – an analysis.
To analyse – an analysis.
Did you hear the stress move?
It shifted from the first to the second syllable.
Say the words with us.
To analyse – an analysis.
To analyse – an analysis.
Let’s do one more.
OK.
Lure.
Lure.
That was close but the vowel sound is a little different.
We have some more.
Lure.
Lure.
Lure.
Lure, lure? Lure.
You did well.
They were good! We pronounce this word in different ways.
But what does it mean?
When we lure someone, we trick them somehow.
Yes, we persuade them to do something by offering them a reward.
We pronounce this word a little differently in British and American English.
Lure.
Lure or lure.
So you can say this two ways in British English?
Yes, we can say lure but we often put a little j sound in there. Lure.
Lure or lure.
Say it the American way. Lure – it’s easier!
That’s just your opinion. You can choose how you want to say it.
Lure.
Lure or lure.
We must say thank you to all the learners for allowing us to video them.
Yes, they were all terrific.
It was really nice of them to stop what they were doing to talk to us.
And they were all such good fun.
If you enjoyed this video please share it with a friend.
If you have ideas for more words that are hard to pronounce, write and tell us in the comments. Perhaps we can make another video about them.
And don’t forget to subscribe to our channel.
Bye-bye everyone.
Bye.
Click here to see videos on more words that are hard to pronounce.
Click here to see some of our grammar videos.
Click here to learn more about British and American English.