Some very common words are said differently from how they are written. Often a letter is silent, or a syllable disappears. Learning these eight will make you sound more natural straight away.
Eight words to fix
| Word | What learners often say | Say it like this |
|---|---|---|
| comfortable | com-FOR-ta-ble (four syllables) | /ˈkʌmf.tə.bəl/ — three syllables |
| Wednesday | Wed-NES-day | /ˈwenz.deɪ/ — the first d is silent |
| vegetable | veg-e-TA-ble | /ˈvedʒ.tə.bəl/ — three syllables |
| island | IS-land | /ˈaɪ.lənd/ — the s is silent |
| receipt | re-CEIPT with a p | /rɪˈsiːt/ — the p is silent |
| debt | dEbt with a b | /det/ — the b is silent |
| salmon | SAL-mon with an l | /ˈsæm.ən/ — the l is silent |
| knife | k-NIFE | /naɪf/ — the k is silent |
Choose the sound
How do you say it?
Pick the pronunciation that a native speaker would use.
1.island
2.Wednesday
3.debt
4.salmon
5.receipt
6.comfortable