50 Common English Words You Might Be Mispronouncing

Are you mispronouncing these 50 common English words? So many learners and even native speakers get these words wrong. Remember this lesson is based on my own accent, modern received pronunciation. Other accents are available. This is a guide. Oh, and if you really want your English accent to be clear, crisp, and confident, I have two things for you. First, you need to know where you currently are. And for that, I have created a free online pronunciation level test. It only takes a few minutes. I send you your results by email. Take that test. Click on the link in the description box or scan the QR code there. That will tell you where you currently are. But if you know that you want to improve, if you know you

want to speak English with my accent, Modern RP, I have launched my fast track to a British accent. It's the 5day British accent boot camp. All I need from you is 15 to 30 minutes each day for 5 days. We will tackle tricky vowel sounds. We will nail the British R sound. I will show you how we blend sounds together smoothly. Right now, we are offering an incredible price. To learn more and join, click the other link in the description box or scan that QR code there. Think of it as your British accent makeover for a huge discount. Okay, let's get started with the commonly mispronounced words. Let's get started with the lesson. And please remember that I am modeling these words with my modern RP accent. Other

pronunciations are available. If your version is different from mine, that doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong. Even some of the wrong pronunciations we cover in this video may be regarded as correct in other regional dialects. So, let's get started with number one. How do you pronounce the word in bold? I go for a run in the morning. This word here causes so much confusion with my students. Is it often or is it often? It might be one of the most controversial words in the English language. Often or often. I have said often in the past in my videos and I have received comments correcting me. This one is a trick question. I just wanted to highlight it because it's so important and I often

see it miscorrected. Both often and often are correct and commonly used. I grew up in Bedfordshire and often was most commonly used. I've heard teachers say that often is incorrect. It is not. It's widely accepted. Use whichever feels most natural to you. Often or often? Number two. How do you pronounce the word in bold? I use a moisturizer to my skin. Would you say soften or soften? If you said soften with a t- sound, I'm sorry, but this time you are wrong. Soften should always have a silent t. I use a moisturizer to soften my skin. I was in a yoga class the other week and I

couldn't relax because the teacher kept telling me to soften the muscles in my face. Don't make the same mistake she did. Soften the muscles in your face. A quick note on pronunciation here. Even though my yoga teacher mispronounced soften, it didn't impede my understanding. The most important thing in English is communication. Then work on fine-tuning your pronunciation if you want to. Okay. Number three is a word that I used to mispronounce all the time when I was young. I can still hear my mom correcting me. We rely on energy. The correct pronunciation is nuclear. But a lot of people get confused with where the Y is and say nucular.

Nucleular or nucular. They add in an extra Y sound. Make sure you get it right by saying nuclear. Now in North American accents, they will drop the Y sound from the first syllable. Nuclear. But it should be nuclear, not nuclear. It's very subtle, but it's a misprononunciation I hear often or often. Think of it as if you're combining the words new and clear. Nuclear. Okay. Number four. I'm a big fan of music. When you pronounce this, do you pronounce the L? I don't blame you. A lot of people do, but this is incorrect.

The correct pronunciation is folk. I'm a big fan of folk music. The letter L is often silent when it comes after a vowel sound and is followed by a consonant sound. Not always. Often. Can you think of any more examples? Here are some. Read them out with me now to practice. We have half, calm, yoke, palm, and this last one that lots of people get wrong, almond. Many native speakers do actually pronounce the L in almond and say almond or almond. It's controversial. I don't want to get into it. In general, we say almond. And here's something else to add to the confusion. Many native speakers

drop the L sound in several words spelled A L when technically it should be there. Here are some examples. Although becomes although already becomes already. All right becomes all right and always becomes always. I do this myself in fast speech. Already all right always. Okay. Number five. I took some for my headache. Okay, this word is so difficult to spell that it's not surprising that loads of people mispronounce it. The most common pronunciation is ibuprofen. ibuprofen with the main stress on the third syllable, but lots of speakers misplace the stress and say ibuprofen. Another tricky thing about this word is the invisible y sound before the uh ibuprofen.

This word causes so much confusion. Can you believe I've even heard this pronounced ibuprofen by some native speakers? If in doubt, just ask for a painkiller instead. Okay, let's move on to a picture round. We have some words that confuse so many of my students. Firstly, what is this? For those who can't see the screen, it's a leafy green vegetable used as the base of salads. It is a lettuce. Lettuce. I know it's so tempting to see the letter U and say something like lettuce or lettuce. But we need to use the short I vowel sound here. Lettuce.

Lettuce. Can you think of any other words that are spelled with a U that are pronounced with a short I sound? Here are a few. Read them with me to practice. We have busy, business, and minute. Got it? We'll try a full sentence together. I'll highlight the other sounds, too. Repeat with me. Give me a minute. I'm a bit busy with my lettuce business. I imagine that's the first time anyone has said that sentence. No one on earth could have said that sentence before. It's so random. Give me a minute. I'm a bit busy with my lettuce business. Okay, number seven. What is this? A beard. So many students often get confused when pronouncing this word and three other similar words. What do we call these?

We have beer. Bear. Bird. Very similar to beard. Beer as in an alcoholic drink. Bear as in the animal that lives in the forest. Bird, the flying animal, and beard, the hair on your face. I want to help you remember the difference between these confusing words once and for all. So, we're going to use some short rhymes to memorize the different pronunciations. Are you ready? Read along with me. He's got a weird beard. Same pronunciation there. He's got a weird beard. That deer's drinking beers. A bear cut my hair. The bird is a nerd. Okay, here are some more images for you. What is this? And what about this? Picture one is of a delicious cake or something. And picture two is of a very dry, sandy area. Word number eight is desert.

Desert. We stress the first syllable and then use the weak uh vowel sound, the schwa in the second syllable. Desert. Dessert is stressed on the second syllable and has a long vowel sound like in her. Dessert. Dessert. Can you hear the difference? Desert. dessert. Here they are in a sentence. We had ice cream for dessert in the desert. Now, the spelling of these two very different words is so similar that it's not surprising they get mixed up. Okay, another pair of images for you now.

Number nine. What is this? It's blue with clouds in it. What is it? And what about this? It's a man going down a mountain really fast on two planks. So, we have sky as in high in the sky. And then we have ski with the long e sound. Often my students will confuse these vowel sounds. Sky. Ski. And our last number 10. What's the dog doing with the bone? He's putting it in the ground. He is burying it. So the verb berry with the letter U is pronounced the same as the fruit berry with the letter E. Berry. The letter U causes many of my students to say burying or burying. But that's incorrect. It should be berry with an e sound. By burying.

This word confuses a lot of native speakers, too. There's a place called Berry in the north of England near Manchester, and not even the residents seem to agree on the correct pronunciation. Some say Berry, rhyming with berry, and others say Bur rhyming with curry. So, how many of these incredibly common words were you pronouncing correctly? Let me know your score in the comments and tell me if any pronunciations surprised you. Let's get started with number one. How do you pronounce this word? My is getting clearer with practice. Now, if you said pronunciation,

it's incorrect, but I understand your logic. You'll hear many native speakers making this mistake. The verb to pronounce is pronounced with the diff thong. So, why not the noun too? The correct pronunciation is pronunciation. I often get accused of mispronouncing pronunciation because sometimes I say pronunciation so quickly it sounds like it could be pronunciation. So if you are ever tempted to correct someone, bear that in mind. One other thing you might hear is people adding a soft t sound before the s pronuniation. Some people do that. Let's move on to number two. How would you pronounce this word here? The scientists began to analyze the what did you say? Data or data?

Either is correct. They are both perfectly correct. However, one is more common in British English. Do you know which? Data is more common in British English. Feel free to use the long R vowel sound data if that works better for you. Now our friends across the pond in North America would generally say data. Okay, our next word also causes a lot of confusion amongst my students. How would you pronounce this word? I have a hectic is it schedule or schedule? Now, according to most online dictionaries, Brits favor schedule with the shh sound.

However, I'm British. I grew up in Bedfordshire, and I heard lots of people say schedule. It really is a mix. In North America, schedule with the sound is favored, but again, you might hear schedule. Number four is a word that seems to be having some sort of identity crisis. How would you pronounce it? I parked the car in the So, there are at least three common pronunciations for this word in British English. I tend to say garage. It's what I grew up saying. My parents say garage. This has an sound at the end. Some of my friends say garage. Garage with a long a vowel sound and a at the end. The sound is in words like usually and television. A similar pronunciation replaces the sound with j as in jeans. Garage. So we have garage,

garage or garage. All three versions are stressed on the first syllable. Ga. However, don't get ahead of yourself. I haven't finished yet. This word comes from the French word g. Sorry, my French pronunciation needs a lot of work. Meaning to shelter. And why am I telling you that? Well, in many North American accents, there's a tendency to stress the last syllable and say garage or garage instead. So, that's five different possible pronunciations for this one word. I personally prefer garage because it's what my dad says. Let's move on to another controversial word. How do you pronounce this one here? I'd like her with jam and cream.

Clotted cream to be precise. Now, if you said scone rhyming with phone, I'm afraid you're in the slight minority. If you said scone, as in gone with the o sound, welcome to my club. This is most definitely how I prefer to pronounce this word. Sconone as in gone, not scone as in phone. Now, not everyone in the UK agrees with me, and I'm certainly not saying that scone as in phone is incorrect. I know lots of people who are very passionate about the correct pronunciation of this word. There are regional differences as well with how we pronounce scone or scone. Let me know which one you'll go for in the comments.

I welcome some friendly banter from Brits that disagree with me. We'll stick with food for the next word. How do you pronounce this vegetable here with large dark green leaves that can be cooked or eaten raw in salads? In a sentence is packed full of nutrients. So, I usually say spinach. Spinach with the short I vow in the second syllable and ch at the end. Spinach, not spinach or spinach. But here's an interesting thing. Some speakers switch this unvoiced ch sound for the voiced J in jeans. Spinach. Can you think of any other words ending in ch with this alternative pronunciation? We have this one. Sandwich or sandwich. Norwich or noridge. Greenwich or grenage. Okay. Now for a word I hear mispronounced

quite often. How would you pronounce it? Aunt Alice has always been a bit what are we continuing with the food theme? No, we're not. But I do hear eccentric quite a lot. Instead of the voiced G, use the unvoiced C. Eccentric. Eccentric. Eccentric with the e vowel sound works well too. For number eight, we have a pair of words. How do you pronounce each one? He dreamt of and lifestyle. Okay, so the first word is the noun luxury with the c sound luxury. But what happens when we switch to the adjective? It's not luxurious. The C changes to a G sound. Luxurious. I think it sounds more luxurious when you use the G sound as well. Luxury.

Luxurious. Notice how the stress shifts here too. Luxury. Luurious. Now remember, I'm modeling my modern RP accent. But in North American English, some speakers use a C- sound followed by a shh, not. So in British English, it's luxurious, and in some North American accents, it's luxurious. Let's stick with the C- sound for this next word. What do you call this small star- shaped symbol that you can add to a phrase to add more information at the bottom of a page? Now, if you said asterisk, I'm really sorry, but you're wrong. Instead of thinking ricks, you need to think risk. Asterisk. Now, you can choose to say asterisk or asterisk and you will be understood, but technically the correct pronunciation is asterisk.

Okay, it's time for our final word. And this word is so utterly difficult that even the British legend that is Benedict Cumberbatch can't pronounce it correctly. Can you? How do you pronounce this super cute black and white animal that lives in the Antarctic? The waddled across the ice. Okay, so I'm very sorry. This is not a penguin. It's not a penguin either. This very cute animal is called a penguin. Penguin. Nice and simple, right? Not for Benedict. Let's get started with the mispronounced words. Okay. Number one, how do you pronounce the word in blue?

She's made a for herself as a vegan food photographer. Now, as you may have guessed, there's quite a debate over how to pronounce this word. Two pronunciations are generally considered to be correct. Niche that rhymes with kiche and nich that rhymes with witch. Can you hear the difference? Nich with the long e vowel sound ending in sh and nich with the short i vowel sound ending in ch as in cheese. Nish. Nich. Now, can you guess which one I use? I say niche. And this pronunciation is much more common in British English. To me, it just sounds a bit nicer. Niche. Go with whichever you prefer. Okay. Number two. How do you pronounce the word in blue here? The coastal towns are to flooding. Okay.

This is a hard one, but there are a couple of accepted pronunciations. We have vulnerable, vulnerable with four syllables or vulnerable. Vulnerable with just three. Which one do you think I favor? I prefer three syllables. We love getting rid of vowel sounds in the middle of words like this. Think comfortable and vegetable and chocolate. But the consonant cluster that sounded a bit weird when I said that. But v that consonant cluster is quite a mouthful. Vulnerable. So some people get rid of it and just say vulnerable or vulnerable with or without the sound. Doesn't really matter. you are going to be understood. What's more important here is the suffix.

It's the weak schwa vowel sound uh not the strong def thong a vulnerable not vulnerable. Okay. Number three. How do you pronounce the word in blue? The child gave the teacher a grin. Okay. I love saying this word and to me it sounds naughty which is what it means. Now it is usually pronounced mischievous. mischievous with the main stress on the first syllable. However, there's a big debate in the UK. Lots of English speakers mispronounce this word. My mom mispronounces this word. I was originally brought up to mispronounce this word for some reason. mischievous has become a common pronunciation. However, it's not spelled mischievous.

There's no extra syllable there in the spelling. I grew up in Bedfordshire. It could be a Bedford cheer thing. Um, but I remember typing in mischievous with an io us at the end and always having it marked incorrect by word spellch check. Now, this non-standard pronunciation is so common, it actually appears in some pronunciation dictionaries. But you might prefer to learn the more traditional pronunciation that reflects the spelling mischievous. Okay, number four. How do you pronounce the word in blue here? I'll have a double, please. Okay, if you said espresso or espresso, I don't blame you, but technically it's incorrect. One of my first jobs was working in a pub, and I used to

mispronounce this all the time. I would even write espresso when taking orders. I was shocked when I learned it was spelled espresso instead of espresso. Number five, how do you pronounce this word in blue? I wrapped up the sandwiches in foil. So, this is a British versus American fight here. In British English, we normally say aluminium. Aluminium or aluminium. But this word can sound very different in North American English. Many people say aluminum. Aluminum with the stress on a different syllable. The spelling can also be different reflecting this big pronunciation

difference. So, choose whichever you prefer, aluminum or aluminum. Number six. How do you pronounce the word in blue? Clear your browser to speed up your laptop. Did you say cashache? So did I for many years, but it's not right. The correct pronunciation is cash just like cash as in money. Computer cash and money cash are homophones. These are words that are pronounced the same but with different spellings and different meanings. I think a lot of people get confused between the word cash here meaning computer memory and cache meaning prestige. Number seven, how do you pronounce the word in blue here? There's a at work that I find really intimidating. Okay. Did you say

clique with the long e vowel sound? Clique. Well, if you did, that is how most Brits would pronounce this word. But in North America, it's often pronounced as a homophone of click with the short I sound. I favor click. Some people favor click. I wonder which pronunciation you've heard before. Number eight, the word in blue. Oranges are rich in C. So I say vitamin with a clear crisp t sound and I use the short i vowel twice. Vitamin. In North American accents, you'll often hear vitamin or vitamin with the i defth thong and the soft almost d sound replacing the t sound.

It's a flap t. It's not quite the full D sound. Both are correct. It just depends on whether you're aiming for more of a British or North American accent. Okay. Number nine. How do you pronounce this word here? The empty chair was a reminder of his absence. So, this beautiful word meaning moving is pronounced poignant. Poant. Isn't that gorgeous to say? Poant. So we have a silent G in there. So if you said poant, it's not quite right. This word comes from old French and literally means pricking. Some other words with French origin that have a silent G before the letter N are

foreign, sovereign, a line, and of course champagne. Okay, are you ready for our last word of the lesson? Number 10. How do you pronounce this word in blue? It's difficult to if they're pleased with the decision. Did you say gauge or gorge or maybe gadge or gadu? Well, the correct pronunciation is gage. The letter a is pronounced with the a diff thong like in pay and the letters u g e make a j as in jeans. So, gauge rhymes with page. Let's start with number one. How do you pronounce this word in blue? I'll put these flowers in a How do you pronounce it? So, I say vase with the long a vowel sound like in stars. The vase has stars on it. But you may have heard this pronounced quite

differently. Many North Americans switch the R for a and the Z at the end for s. So vase for me becomes vase for them. Place the vase on the table. There is another alternative. Some North American speakers prefer a z sound at the end vase. But this is less common. The variation that I have never heard is vas. We always say vase in British English. Choose whichever you like best. What's important is that people understand you. Okay. Number two. How do you pronounce this word in blue? Should we take the direct or the scenic home? Did you say route or route? And

which do you think most Brits would use? We tend to use the long ooh vowel here. So root rhymes with boot. This pronunciation is very common in North America too, but some prefer route rhyming with shout. But I've never heard anyone say route 66. Have you? Maybe we have some Americans in the chat who can let me know. Okay, number three. I struggled to pronounce this word as a child and it still sometimes causes me problems. So, how do you pronounce this word here in blue? Some cash and electronics was stolen in the So, the correct pronunciation is burglary. Now, I've heard all kinds of misprononunciations of this word.

Burglary. Burglary is the one you should learn. And a burglary is the general noun for the crime of illegally entering a building and stealing things. But what do we call the person who does this? This is a burglar. a burglar, which can also be really challenging to pronounce. In fact, some Scottish people find the phrase purple burglar alarm almost impossible to say. Purple burglar alarm. See if you can say it. Purple burglar alarm. I wonder how often situations arise where people genuinely have to say the phrase purple burglar alarm. Number four. How do you pronounce this word in

blue here? Close the door. There's a coming in. So, we have a silly spelling here. The letters A and U combine to make R like in aunt and laugh. And the letters gh combine to make f as in laugh again and enough. So, the correct pronunciation is draft with the long r vowel sound and then th at the end. Draft. I know it's very tempting to say drought or something like that. Draft with a short a vowel is also very common in North America and in the north of England. I say draft. Now, I totally understand why North Americans have simplified the spelling to match its pronunciation more closely. They spell this word D R AF T. Much easier. Okay, number five. And here you get two for the price of one. How do you pronounce these words in blue? Film was

interesting, so I didn't finish of them. My students ask me about these words all the time. Are they pronounced either and neither or either and neither? Well, according to most online dictionaries, Brits generally prefer either and neither. And either and neither are more common in North America, but in North America, they do pronounce the R sound at the end. Either neither. I have to say though, we now use them pretty much interchangeably. I do this myself. It just kind of depends on what mood I'm in and how my sentence is flowing. It seems that older Brits are sticking with either and neither, whereas younger Brits are using either

and neither. So, I have good news. Use whichever you like best. It really doesn't matter. Let's look at number six. How do you pronounce this word in blue? I grew up in a quiet area. This one always comes up with my students in lessons. It can be really tricky to get your tongue around this word rural. Rural. So, the sound can be challenging. And we've got two in quick succession here, one after the other. And to make matters worse, we have got my least favorite def thong as in pure in the middle. Gliding from the to and then back to

is difficult even for me. Rural. And then the icing on the cake is that transition from to at the end. So, your tongue has to curl back and then forward. Rural. Gosh, it's a tough one. Give it some practice. Rural. And well done if you can pronounce it clearly. It's tough. Number seven. I love pronouncing this next word, but it's hard. How do you pronounce this word in blue? I admire her keen intelligence. And so this word describes the quality of being energetic, active or positive. And it's pronounced effevescence. What makes it so tricky? Well, I have to concentrate really hard when I pronounce this word because my tongue desperately

wants to repeat the F again and say effeessence. But that sounds like I'm saying F for feeasants, which makes no sense at all. Feeasant starts with a ph. Effevesence. Okay, let's try a much shorter word for number eight. How do you pronounce this word in blue here? We gazed at the snowcapped mountains in. So this word is actually surprisingly easy to pronounce. It contains just one vowel sound. O. That's right. It's or as in more, door, and for. Now, in North American accents, this sound is usually pronounced a little more open. So, this word could sound more like a, but it's still got a touch of the or in it. A

I really struggle to produce that sound in an American accent. So, I would like to ask an American friend. Pronounce it for me. Here we go. A. Thank you. Let's move on to number nine. How do you pronounce this word in blue? She is the of elegance and good taste. I adore this word. It means you are the embodiment or perfect example of something. Now, if you pronounce this word epiome, I'm afraid that's incorrect. The O is a schwah, and that E at the end isn't silent. It's pronounced E. So, the correct pronunciation is epito or epitome.

Epitome. Now, please learn it and use it. It's a beautiful word. Spread it around. Okay, time for our final commonly mispronounced word number 10. How do you pronounce this word in blue? The dinosaur in the natural history museum are incredible. So, the correct pronunciation is skeletons with the weak I or skeletons with the schwa. Skeletons. Now, lots of people mispronounce this word and place the stress on the last syllable by mistake. Skeleton. And many kids really struggle to say this word and say skellingtons like Wellingtons instead. And I find that so cute. Let's get started with the misprononunciations.

Number one, how do you pronounce this word in blue? Celebrities have the right to well in British English we can say privacy or privacy. Privacy is more common. Privacy is becoming more common. I tend to use privacy. My husband uses privacy. When we have children, we will have to fight maybe a thumb war over which pronunciation to use. In both versions, it's important to get the weak schwa vowel sound in the middle. Uh ie privacy privacy. Now in North America, privacy with the i sound like in hi is more common. As long as you're using the uh schwa sound, privacy, privacy, you're fine. Okay. Number two. How do you pronounce this word in blue here? From trees and houses covered the

streets after the storm. Well, the s at the end is silent. So this word ends with a long e vowel sound. And what comes before that? Well, we have lots of choices here. In British English, we tend to go with debris. Debris with a short e vowel sound. We also say debris. Debris with an a vowel sound. Debris. Now, in both of these versions, the stress is on the first syllable. Debris. Debris. Now, in most North American accents, the stress moves to the second syllable, debris or debris. Confusing? Yes. But the good news is that as long as you don't pronounce the S at the end, pretty much any way you pronounce this

word is going to be correct. Okay, number three. How do you pronounce this word in blue? Your for financial assistance as you earn too much money. Okay, this one is ineligible. If you are ineligible for something, you are not allowed to have it because of certain rules. Now, not only do I hear this word mispronounced by native speakers, but I also hear them confuse this with a similar sounding word, illeible. It might sound

similar, but it has a totally different meaning. Do you know what it means? Illeible means difficult or impossible to read. Unreadable, like my dad's handwriting, for example. So, take care not to confuse the two. Ineligible, illeible. Number four. How do you pronounce this word in blue here? Children must be accompanied by an at all times. This word seems easy but it causes confusion. The confusion is due to stress. So did you place the main stress on the first syllable like adult or did you place it on the second adult? It makes me laugh that stress is the main cause of confusion here because I'd say that being an adult or an adult involves a lot of stress. So, both pronunciations are totally fine. Though,

adult is more common in Britain. Number five, how do you pronounce this word in blue here? As I opened the oven door, I was hit by a freshly baked bread. So I usually pronounce this word with the short monothong O as in October. Waftaft. Maybe you saw the letter A and went for waft with an A for apple. This is fine, too. It's just much less common. You can also say waft. I favor waft. Okay, let's move on to a picture round for the next five words. How do you pronounce this structure through which smoke is carried up from a fire and out through the roof? It is a chimney. Now, some people add a syllable in the middle and say chimney. I wonder if that's because of Mary Poppins. I don't do this. In

Mary Poppins, there's a song that goes chimchin. I won't sing it for you. I don't want to put you through that. There are even some places in the world where people will pronounce it chimi or chimli. Norfolk, for example, and apparently Appalachia. But unless you live in one of the areas where a regional variation is commonly used, it's probably best to stick with the standard pronunciation, chimney. Okay, moving on to number seven. What do we call these items here like rings, necklaces, and earrings that people wear as a decoration? This is jewelry. Now, some people think we need four syllables here and say jewelry, but we don't. Just three is perfect.

Jewelry. And in fact, in many accents, especially in North America, it's reduced to just two syllables. I do this when I'm speaking quickly. Jewelry. In North American English, the spelling is simplified, too. Now, this is interesting. Some speakers also switch the h and sounds and say jewelry instead of jewelry. It's your choice. Choose whichever you like best. I think jewelry. Two syllables. Nice and simple. Now, number eight. How do you pronounce this computer file that contains still or moving images often sent on the internet? So this word is short for graphic interchange format and there is a huge debate as to whether the letters should

be pronounced gif or gif. I don't really see what all the fuss is about to be honest. I favor gif, but I can see why people say gif. I wonder what you think is right. And here are two more similar words I often hear mispronounced. It's not me, mimi, or mem, it's meme. And it's not, but URL. Make sure you get those right, too. Okay. Number nine. How do you pronounce this delicious green plant that's often used in pasta dishes? Okay, most Brits would call this basil. We've got the short a vowel sound there, but basil is more common in many North American accents. Which do you use, basil or basil? Okay, it's time for our final word of the lesson, number 10.

How do you pronounce the word for a person who is applying for a job? Well, I say candidate. Candidate with a schwah at the end. Candidate. We often use a schwah in unstressed syllables. But interestingly, this word can also be pronounced with a strong a vowel sound. Candidate. Candidate. And approximately 25% of North Americans do not pronounce the first D. It feels so strange in my British accent to say candidate or candidate, but it does sound better in an American accent. Candidate.

My American accent needs work.