Correct Pronunciation at Anamika’s English Academy

Getting Pronunciation Corrected

It is defined as the way a word or a language is spoken or the way in which someone utters a word. It varies from person to person.

In this chapter we will study the pronunciation of some difficult English words.

Note:

To get the pronunciation of words correctly, you need to emphasize the syllable given in capitals just by raising the pitch of your voice.
AE – vowel sound in words like cat, pad, mad, etc.
AW – sound in words like tall, fall, mall, etc.
QU – KW (all words with QU are pronounced with rounded lips) sound in words like quick, query, etc.
ZH – sound of letter ‘s’ in words like vision, measure, pleasure, etc.
C or K – both ‘c’ and ‘k’ have the same sound as that of ‘k’ except when it is followed by h (ch).

*Sr. No*	*words*	*Meanings*	*Incorrect Pronunciation*	*Correct Pronunciation*
3.	Alternative	substitute	ALL-ter-nay-tive	All-TER-nt-iv
4.	Annihilate	destroy	AN-hil-ate	a-NIGHT-a-late (nigh sounds like bye)
5.	Appreciation	admire	EP-ree-say-shn	a-pree-cee-AY-shn
6.	Atmosphere	ambiance	Et-MOS-fair	AT-ms-fere
7.	Beige	Light brown	Beej	Bayzh (sound of zh in vision)
8.	Benign	gentle	Bin-IGN	Bin-NINE
9.	Bougainvillea	a plant with purple or red flowers that	BO-gn-vill-yaa	Boo-gn-VILL-eea
10.	Bureaucracy	administration	BYOO-ro-crass-ee	Byoo-ROC-r-see
11.	Catastrophe	calamity	KAT-ass-trofe	Kt-ASS-tr-fee
12.	Chameleon	a small type of lizard that changes colour to match the colours around it	KEM-eel-yun	Km-EEL-yn

*Sr. No*	*words*	*Meanings*	*Incorrect Pronunciation*	*Correct Pronunciation*
13.	Characteristic	feature	KREK-tris-tic	Kae-rek-ter-IS-tic (KAE like the ‘ca’ in carry)
14.	Chauffeur	One who drives a private car	SHAW-fer	Show-FER (fer sounds like her)
15.	Clientele	customers	CLINE-tell	CLAA-ynt-tell
16.	Connoisseur	expert	Cn-O-ser	con-a-SER (sir sounds lik her)
17.	Curriculum	set of courses	CUR-ik-you-lum	kr-IK-you-lum
18.	Deficiency	lack, shortage	Def-ish-EN-see	df-FISH-n-see
19.	Deliberately	purposely	DEM-ib-rate-lee	dl-LIB-rt-lee
20.	Demonstration	Reveal	dim-ON-stray-shn	dem-mn-STRAY-shn
21.	Development		DEV-a-lup-ment	div-EL-lp-mnt
22.	Dessert	Sweet food eaten at the end of a meal	DEZ-ert	Diz-ERT
23.	Dough	mixture of flour and water	Dow	doe (sounds like so) draft

*Sr. No*	*words*	*Meanings*	*Incorrect Pronunciation*	*Correct Pronunciation*
24.	Draught	movement of air	drought	draft
25.	Dynamism	enthusiasm	DIE-n-mism	die-NAM-ism
26.	Ecstasy	delight	ik-STAA-see	Ek-st-see (ek sounds like neck, st as in stamp)
27.	Elite	Privileged	el-LITE	el-LEET
28.	Endeavor	attempt	EN-dv-er	En-DEV-er
29.	Envelope	Cover	en-VEL-lp	EN-vl-lope or on-vl-lope
30.	Epiphany	moment when one suddenly realizes something important	EP-if-any	ep-PIF-fn-ee
31.	Espionage	spying	ES-pyo-nage	ES-pyo-naazh (zhsounds like ‘s’ in vision)
32.	Exaggerate	overstate	EG-zaj-er-ate	eg-ZAJ-er-ate
33.	Executive	managerial	Eg-Z-KYOO-tiv	eg-ZEK-a-tiv
34.	Exhilarate	excite	EG-zil-rate	eg-ZIL-er-ate

*Sr. No*	*words*	*Meanings*	*Incorrect Pronunciation*	*Correct Pronunciation*
35.	Façade	front elevation	FAK-ade fs-ET	Fs-SAAD FAS-et (fas rhymes with gas)
36.	Finesse	skill	FINE-ess	fin-ESS
37.	Forte	strong point	fort	for-TAY
38.	Gauge	measure	Goj	Gaje (sounds like page)
39.	Grandeur	magnificence	GRAND-er	GRAN-jer
40.	Guinea pig	experimental subject	gin-NEE-a pig	GIN-ee-pig (gin with a ‘g’ sound, not jin)
41.	Heredity	inheritance	HARE-id-it-ee	hr-ED-it-tee
42.	Hostel	boarding house	HOSE-tel	HOSS-tl (HOSS sounds like boss)
43.	Hovercraft	vehicle that rides over water by blowing air	HO-ver-craft	HOVE-er-craft (hve sounds lik love)
44.	Immediately	at once	IM-me-jyet-lee	im-ME-jt-lee
45.	Individual	person	in-dee-VEE-jual	in-d-VIj-jual
46.	Initiative	plan	in-ee-SHYATE-iv	in-ISH-a-tiv

*Sr. No*		*words*	*Meanings*	*Incorrect Pronunciation*		*Correct Pronunciation*
47.	Interim		provisional	in-TARE-im	IN-ter-im (ter sounds like her)
48.	Interrogative		probing	in-TARE-o-gate-iv	In-ter-OG-a-tive (og sounds like dog)
49.		Intuition	instinct	In-TYOO-shn		in-tyoo-ISH-shn
50.		Jewelry	ornaments	JWEL-a-ree		JOO-wl-ree
51.		Lethargy	exhaustion	lith-AR-jee		LETH-er-jee (leth sounds like Beth)
52.		Lettuce	salad vegetable with large thin green leaves	LET-youce		LET-ts
53.		Liaison	connection	LIE-zn		LEE-ay-zon
54.		Mayonnaise	thick sauce made from eggs and oil	MYO-neez		MAY-a-neez, MAY-a-naze (both acceptable)
55.		Nausea	sickness	NO-see-a		NAW-zee-a, NAW-see-a (both acceptable)
*Sr. No*		*words*	*Meanings*	*Incorrect Pronunciation*		*Correct Pronunciation*
56.		Niche	forte	nich		neesh
57.		Nuisance	annoyance	NWEE-sense		NEW-snce
58.		Opportunity	chance	a-PAWR-chun-i-tee		aw-per-CHOO-n-ty (awper sounds like copper)
59.		Orchid	a type of flower with unusual shape and a sweet smell	OR-chid		OR-kid
60.		Pacify	appease, calm	PAS-i-fy		PA-si-fy
61.		Pedestal	podium	pd-ES-tl		PED-ds-tl
62.		Personnel	workforce	PER-snal		per-sn-NELL
63.		Pervert	distort	per-VERT		PER-vert
64.		Phenomenon	occurrence	FEN-o-min-un		fen-AW-min-un, fen-AW-min-on (both acceptable)
65.		Phlegm	ability to be calm and dangerous in dangerous situation	Flegm		Flem

*Sr. No*	*words*	*Meanings*	*Incorrect Pronunciation*	*Correct Pronunciation*
66.	Picturesque	pleasing	pic-cher-ES-kyoo	pic-cher-ESK
67.	Poignant	distressing	POYG-nunt	POY-nyunt
68.	Pronunciation	accent	Pro-NOUN-see-ay-shn	pr-nun-see-AY-shn
69.	Psyche	awareness	sike (sounds like bike)	SIE-kee (sie sounds like bye)
70.	Radar	system that uses radio signals for finding object	ra-DAAR	RAY-dar
71.	Realm	Kingdom, monarchy	REL-lm	RELM
72.	Refuge	shelter	Ri-FUGE	REF-uge
73.	Refugee	person in exile	rif-YOU-jee	Ref-u-GEE
74.	Rehabilitate	regenerate	Re-HEB-li-tate	ree-hb-IL-a-tate
75.	Rendezvous	meeting	REN-des-vaaus	RON-day-voo
76.	Representative	spokesperson	Rip-pr-zen-TAY-tiv	Rep-r-ZEN-t-tiv
77.	Schedule	to-do list	Shed-YOOL	SHED-yool, SCEJ-yool
78.	Schizophrenia	a serious mental illness	SKEE-zo-fee-nyaa	Skit-zo-FREEN-ya
*Sr. No*	*words*	*Meanings*	*Incorrect Pronunciation*	*Correct Pronunciation*
79.	Sewerage	pipes and passages that carry sewage	Svee-er-age	Soo-er-ij
80.	Silhouette	outline	SIL-hoo-et	Sil-oo-ET
81.	Souvenir	reminder	SOOV-near	Soo-v-NEE-er
82.	Spaghetti	a type of pasta	SPEG-a-tee	Sp-GET-ee
83.	Suave	polite	swayve	Swaav
84.	Suede	leather with a soft brushes surface	sweed	Swayed
85.	Suicide	action of deliberately killing yourself	SWEE-side	SOO-a-side
86.	Suite	collection	SOO-it	sweet
87.	Syllable	part of word with one vowel sound	sil-AB-bl	SIL-a-bl
88.	Tatoo	permanent picture drawn on skin using needle	TAT-oo	tat-OO
89.	Triumphant	victorious	TRYM-fnt	Try-UM-fnt