25 Commonly Mispronounced English Words in India

25 Commonly Mispronounced English Words in India

FastInfo logoBy FastInfo Class Published On 26 Apr 2024 Updated On 14 Nov 2024 Category Spoken English

When you are not a native speaker, there are a lot of challenges in pronouncing an English word. It is such an issue that almost a hundred percent non-native speakers face. If you notice, English is pronounced with different variants in different continents or countries. The pronunciation of British people does not match with the Americans. It may be different in Australia or UK. This article will tell you the most commonly mispronounced English words in spoken English in India.

Why does the pronunciation issue happen?
 

  • Accustomed to pronounce mother tongue:

There are some matters that hinder the pronunciation when Indians pronounce English words. Every person in this world are habituated to pronouncing their mother tongue. The tongue or pronunciation style changes in accordance with the style of the local people where they reside. If you are a Hindi speaking person, you cannot speak Bengali well or vice versa. The pronunciation will be filled with mother tongue influence (MTI).

On the other hand, the tongue, lip, or their movement will go on according to the mother tongue pronunciation. This is the primary burden for pronunciation of other language in the world that includes English. Especially, most people tend to learn spoken English and then they face the same issue.

  • Not knowing the real pronunciation

The secondary issue happens when the nonnative speakers do not know what the real pronunciation is. If someone learns the word “lieutenant” for the first time, you will notice that they will pronounce it as “le-u-te-nant”. However, the pronunciation of the word is Lef-te-nant. So, ignorance of the word pronunciation may be the reason for perfect pronunciation. 

  • Lack of Guidance

When the person learned that the pronunciation is left-te-nant, they may not pronounce the vowel sounds perfectly. The long and short vowel pronunciation also matter most. On the other hand, the open sound, rounded sound, semi rounded pronunciation, etc. impact the pronunciation most. If you want to learn all these rules from a phonetic specialist of a guide, you can pursue English speaking course online from a reputed organization.

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  • Not knowing how to pronounce

It is also a great issue that you may not know how to pronounce a word. Would it be a dental sound or a palatal sound? Would it require you to keep your lip open or rounded? There are various factors in your mouth that impact pronunciation. Hence, the new learners must know how to pronounce. Then, they can purchase a book of phonetics, learn IPA, and get guided from a guru. So, choosing the best online spoken English lesson may help you a lot. 

Let’s learn the most commonly mispronounced English words in India so that the beginners can learn them and avoid the mispronunciation.

25 Commonly Mispronounced English Words in India
 

1. Wednesday (/ˈwenz.deɪ/):
 

Most commonly, people who do not have a deeper idea about English pronunciation pronounce it as wed-ness-day. However, the pronunciation would be silencing the “D”. So, the pronunciation would be Way-Nes-Dai. See, we all say this word for everyday use, but we do not know what it its pronunciation. Isn’t it amazing?

2. Almond (/ɑːmənd/ -IPA)
 

Who does not take this dry fruit in life? Almost everybody! What do we pronounce? We pronounce it as it is shown, “al-mond.” However, the pronunciation would be “ah-mah-nd.” Probably, you understood what the most nonnative speakers pronounce these words.

3. Business (/bɪznəs/- IPA)
 

Every day we use the word “business”. When you pronounce, we say, “Bizi-ness”. However, the pronunciation would be “Biz-ness”. So, whenever you use the world, keep this pronunciation in mind. 

4. Cache (/kæʃ/ )
 

You will not get any IT professional who has never used this word in his life. They pronounce, “cya-she”. However, the pronunciation would be “kysh”. The people who use smartphones, tabs, laptops or computers surely use this word every now and then. So, it is a wrong pronunciation that you would know beforehand. You should use the pronunciation that I have mentioned just now.

5. Determine (/dɪˈːmɪn/)
 

What do you pronounce this word? As an Indian resident, you may have grabbed the pronunciation, “ de-ter-maain”. However, the right pronunciation is “di-to-min”. if you learn IPA, you may grab the pronunciation of the word perfectly. 

6. Debris (/deɪbriː/)
 

Most people from non-native countries pronounce the word, “Debris” like “day-brees”. However, it is incorrect pronunciation. Debris must be pronounced as “de-bree”. 

7. Cough (/kɒf/)
 

What should be the pronunciation of the word “cough”? Will it be pronounced as the words “enough, tough or rough are pronounced? No, it is not. The pronunciation of the word is not like “kaff”. It would be KOFF. 

8. Pizza (/ˈpiːtsə/)
 

It is one of the favorite fast food among the Indian people today. You have to keep in mind that the word origin is in Italy. So, the pronunciation might be far different from what you are looking at. 

People may pronounce it “pee-zhaa” as it looks like. You should say it “Pit- sa”.

9. Espresso (/ɛˈspɹɛʊ/)
 

This word is mostly used in a café where a barista prepares coffee. The word origin is Italy. Hence, you have to keep attention to pronouncing the word. Most people pronounce it as “Ik-pre-sso”. However, the pronunciation would be “eh-spreh-soh”. 

10. Etc. or et cetera (/ɪtˈset.ər.ə/)
 

You may have heard the pronunciation from the mouths of people, even from some educated people. They pronounce, “EX-et tra”, However, the pronunciation would be “it-set-ora”. 

11. Data (/ˈdeɪ.tə/)
 

Tell me first, how you pronounce this word. I hope you pronounce it as “DA-TA’, or “De-ta”. However, both pronunciations are not right. You should pronounce the word as “Dei-to”.  Keep in mind that the last letter “O” would not pronounce completely rounded, it would be half open or half rounded. 

12. Flour (/flaʊə/)
 

You may learn the wrong pronunciation of the word. It must not be pronounced as “floor” or “flo-ur”. Its pronunciation is “flau-o''. The pronunciation of the vowel “O” would be half open or half rounded (lip).

13. Women (wɪm.ɪn/)
 

What we pronounce this word. Let’s discuss a little. You or other people may call it as ‘wo-men”. However, you must learn that the pronunciation is completely wrong. You should pronounce, “wim-in”. This word is vastly used everywhere and most of them are pronounced wrongly. So, learn it today and forget not!

14. Education (/ˌɛdjʊˈkeɪʃn/)
 

I bet you pronounce it wrongly unless you have received guidance from an English guru. You may pronounce the word as it looks like, “e-du-ka-shan”. But, the pronunciation would be “e-djhu-Kei-shn”. 

15. Itinerary (/aɪˈtɪnərəri/)
 

Consider how the people pronounce this word. When people visit anywhere, your travel expert will tell you the details of “ahy-tin-ary”. No, it is not the correct pronunciation. You should pronounce the word as “ahy-tin-uh-rer-ee”. 

16. Jewellery (/dʒuːəlri/)
 

The word shows you three syllables. People pronounce all of them when they pronounce the complete word. They pronounce as they see. People pronounce it as “joo-el-er-y”, but it should be “joo-uhl-ree”. Last vowel would be unpronounced.

17. Suite (/swiːt/)
 

Do you know I also pronounced it incorrectly unless I got guidance from a guru? I also used to pronounce the word wrongly. Most of the Indian people pronounce the word, “suite” as “soot.” However, the right pronunciation would be more li1ke to, “swit”. So, learn the word now and pronounce it correctly from next onwards. If you want to learn more words like these, you can learn an English speaking course online

18. Often (/ɒfn̩/)
 

This word is also common in daily life. The word, "often" means frequently or many times. People of India usually pronounce it as "of-ten". However, the right pronunciation of the word is "Of-n”. So, try to pronounce it correctly from now onwards. 

19. Niche (/nɪtʃ/)
 

This is a word mainly used to denote a “comfortable or suitable position” The word is incorrectly pronounced as “nee-shay”. What would be the right pronunciation, then? It is “ni-sh”. 

20. Salon (/sælɒn/)
 

The word is very common to us. Most people of India pronounce it as “sa-lun”. If you notice the IPA or listen to the pronunciation of the word, you will get it like, “sya-lon”. In this place, the first vowel “a” would be pronounced like the pronunciation in “cat”. On the other hand, the last “O” would be pronounced as the “O” as it is pronounced in “On”. When you are trying to learn pronunciation while learning Spoken English, you must concentrate on pronunciation.

21. Subtle (/sʌtl/)
 

The meaning of the world is, “so delicate or precise as to be difficult to analyse or describe.” The word is one of the commonly used words in our regular life. The Indian people pronounce it as. “Sub-tel”. The pronunciation of the word is “Sa-tl”. Here, the primary vowel “A” is completely open pronunciation, as we pronounce U in “umbrella”. Then, the T and L come to contracted pronunciation.

22. Receipt (/rɪˈsiːt/)
 

You may take Receipt copy of submitted copy of any application. But, how do you pronounce the word? You may receive it and call it “re-cipt” as it looks like. When you want to rightly pronounce it, it will hear, “RI-SIT”. This is the way you should pronounce. How will you understand which word will pronounce going different from others? If you want to learn it perfectly, you can contact the top spoken English learning organization. 

23. Cocoa (/kəʊʊ/)
 

If you know IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet), you know a lot about pronouncing a word. Then, you can guess all the words like this one. When a person looks at the spelling of the word, they will consider that the pronunciation would be “Ko-Ko-A”. But the fact is absolutely wrong. The pronunciation would be “Kou-kou”. But, not as you are seeing the word. The first vowel of the word O would be half rounded starting and then rounded pronunciation. On the other hand, the second compound vowel will also take the same pronunciation as before. Listen to online pronunciation to learn the pronunciation perfectly. 

24. Tuition (/tjuːˈɪʃn̩/)
 

This is also the most common word that we use in regular life. However, most people pronounce it wrongly. They say, “Tiu-Shan”. The neutral pronunciation of the word would be T with j sound combination, and then rounded vowel pronunciation and with I-SHN sound. “TJU-I-SHN”. Listen to the word online to learn exact pronunciation. 

25. Yolk (/jəʊk/)
 

Everybody knows the word and use in their everyday lives. Most Indian people who are not accustomed to right pronunciation may pronounce the word as “Yo-lk”. However, the pronunciation would be “Yo:K”. The L would be silent, and the O sound will be flowing through half open then rounded pronunciation complexly. You will learn it through IPA or by listening to the pronunciation online from reliable sources.

These are the 25 commonly mispronounced English words in India that we use in our everyday lives. There we have tried to make you understand how they should be pronounced. If you want to learn it through live online classes, you can join FastInfo Class® where you will get an English speaking course online from internationally accredited teachers.


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