7 English common words you’re probably saying wrong

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Today, we are going to go over 7 of the most commonly mispronounced words in English. Who knows? Maybe you have some difficulties with them. Let’s have a look at those words!

These 7 words are really hard to pronounce, and it’s going to be a bit of a tongue twister. Disclaimer: you can pronounce the words however you want. This article is written for entertainment purposes only!

How is it that native speakers mispronounce words in their own language? It’s because sometimes we learn words from reading, not from hearing them used. Moreover, English is not a phonetic language. The letters do not correspond one-to-one with the sounds. So we can see a word and guess the pronunciation, and maybe be wrong.

Click the card to learn the right pronunciation. Each word from the list has a link so you can hear these words!

#1 Echelon

Click to hear the word

['eʃəlɔn]
The CH can be pronounced K or CH or SH. In this case, it’s the SH sound

#2 Mischievous

Click to hear the word

['mɪsʧɪvəs]
It’s just 3 syllables, and the first one is stressed

#3 Facade

Some people pronounce the word “facade” wrong because of such words as “barricade”, “cascade”, or “decade”.

Click to hear the word

[fə'sɑːd]
The С is the S sound

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#4 Queue

Click to hear the word

That looks like too many letters, doesn’t it? If you are a non-native speaker, and you’re feeling bad about not knowing the pronunciation of a word when you read it, don’t worry! Native speakers have that same problem.

[kjuː]
This word is just like saying the letter Q out loud
(because the rest of the letters are still waiting in the line...)

#5 Colonel

Click to hear the word

['kɜːn(ə)l]
Yeap. The word has an R sound but no letter R

#6 Espresso

Click to hear the word

[e'spresəu]
It’s not “expresso”. There is no “x” in there

#7 Salmon

Click to hear the word

['sæmən]
Another silent sound. The letter L isn’t pronounced

Bonus word: Quinoa

Click to hear the word

[ˈkɪːnwɑː]
Yes. It sounds a little posh

We hope you have learned something new today. If you can think of any more words that are pronounced incorrectly by native speakers, make sure you comment below! QuizzClub's Community would love to hear them.