Difficult words to say in British and American English
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- Опубликовано: 6 авг 2024
- Have you noticed how the way English words are pronounced is often differently to the way we spell them?
Don't worry, we can help.
Here are some more words that English learners find tricky to pronounce. We compare how we say them in British and American English.
In this video we look at how we pronounce these tricky words in English:
• island
• squirrel
• priority
• Leicester
• schedule
• vulnerable
• width
• peculiarly
We talk about:
• silent English letters
• word stress,
• British and American differences
• the American flap t sound
• that tricky English th sound
and lots, lots more.
To see our other videos on how to pronounce difficult words, click here: • Difficult words to say...
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We'd like to say a big thank you to all the non-native speakers who helped us make this video. You were wonderful.
I love your sense of humor! :-)
Thanks so much strohwit. :-)
I genuentaly love that you could of become an english teacher but you chose to actually help hundreds or thousands of people.
Also you might already be a teacher, i don't know
Hi chickenman roblox. This is Jay writing back to you. Vicki has been an English Language Training teacher for many years and has written many textbooks teaching English for Oxford University Press, Pearson Education and others. I have a masters degree in Education, but I'm not a teacher. I am, however, an Instructional Designer. I design training programs for large organizations and companies. Thanks for writing to us and thanks for watching our videos.
Thank you so much teachers, the video is really funny! Greetings from Mexico!
That's great to hear. Thanks so much for writing Brian. :-)
Why don't British people say "school" like shool? 😂 🤣
Francis Unger sounds a bit inconsistent, doesn‘t it?
Yeah the letters SCH in da word SCHEDULE is SH in England, like in the german language... But in America it is SK like in dutsch n italian... N italian example: Schiavone.... Francesca Schiavone... She was n italian tenisplayer.... And a dutch example 4 the american pronunciation of the word, schedule... bosch... it is bosk, n not BOSH! BECAUSE IT'S DUTCH, NOT HERMAN! OR N OTHER DUTCH word, Schipho, the name of a village, where we can find the Amsterdam international airport.
In Polish sch is pronounced with two distinct sounds s & h (ch was different from h once, but now there is no difference, it's the same sound)
Ákos Szűcs but gotta admit that sk (sch) variant is older because it came from Latin (respectively), such as "Schola", which in turn s-hola in Greek. And due to the absence of x (h) letter in Latin, it became k, or ch.
@@akoska i'm an italian and i'm studying dutch so I think i'm in the right place at the right moment! "Schiavone" is correct as you said, SKiavone basically. But in dutch, when the "ch" sound is at the end of the word it's pronounced like a simple "s", in fact the say "bos" not bosk. Den Bosch is the name of a dutch city, and they say "den boS"
But this video does help me I get confused when pronouncing Ireland and island
In practice, there can be no difference at all. Some people stress the 'R', which sounds unnatural, to me.
A friend of mine says Woof instead of Wolf. .Can't get her tongue around the L....
Ah yes, I expect they might find the words 'world' and 'calm' hard too. We might try to make a video about that /l/ sound one day. Thanks for writing Carol.
Pronouncing it "woof" is almost correct, where I'm from. The /l/ becomes so thick that it is omitted, like the /oo/ in 'pool'.
Yeah but woof also the slang version of wolf, some say it intentional.
@@SimpleEnglishVideos you're welcome. ..
In some areas of the States we pronounce vulnerable with three syllables and peculiarly with four.
"vuln-ruh-bul"
"pe-kyul-yer-ly" (in some areas the r is dropped)
Thanks for sharing this Edward. :-)
Hehehe! Squirrel! My tongue's always doing Yoga when I'm trying to say it in a conversation! :D
"Sixth" and "rural" are some other words, which makes my tongue muscles go sore! 😅 They take a loooot of intense concentration when talking! 😅
And I didn't know about the different pronunciation of "schedule" in AE and BE! 😯
The rhotic "r" also seems to be most distinctive difference between AE and BE, when I think of the pronunciation differences. 🤔
I think you also did a video on that topic!
Thanks once more for your efforts and hard work Vicki and Jay! 😍 Thanks for another funny and interesting video! ♥
Hi Steffi, Vicki here. It's funny you should mention rural. We collected some samples for that from students and plan to include it in a future video. It's another word where Jay's strong R sounds seem to drown out the vowels. I think I'm much easier to understand. :-)
I think the R sound is one of the biggest differences too. When I'm in a mission critical situation where I need to make sure I'm understood in the US, (like in a taxi trying to give an address) I consciously try to emphasize the R sounds.
@@SimpleEnglishVideos
That's pretty true! I have been several times in the UK, just once in the USA (Minnesota).
British English sounds very clean and clear. You understand what a British person is saying, even if you don't know all the vocabulary as a foreigner.
In the USA I often had to ask, what someone just said, even I DID know all the words, but as you said: many vowels are swallowed!
And that's why I feel it's so important to talk, talk, talk and listen to native speakers like you both 😍
Ah! Additionally: There is one word I just don't get! Why is the written word "draught" so different from its pronuncation? 😅 That's pretty tricky!
Hi dear Steffi!
Hope you are doing great 😙
I’m afraid of no voice but that thing
(The woman’s accent and voice also I’m British but it still does)
It scares me
Hi Lynx. this is Jay writing back to you. I don't think Vicki is very scary, but one thing that you might find both fun and scary is this video about Halloween. ruclips.net/video/oLFkf14jBlM/видео.html. I hope you enjoy it.
I get scared too
It relaxes me a lot when the British woman speaks
That's great to hear. Thanks Sofy. :-)
I love your videos so much! You are wonderful. I love you, friends! Best wishes from Czech Republic.
Keep up the good job , folks !
Thanks for the encouragement Sebastien. :-)
Great as usual - Thanks a lot.
So glad you liked it Patrick. :-)
It's nice to see that you guys have taken the time to reply on most of the comments. Thank you for your contents
Our pleasure!
The videos about tricky words are the best! Make it more!
great video! thank you for it💐
Thanks for the video!
This video is sooo helpful! Since you know, sometimes you kinda have to guess the pronunciation when you speak english as your 2nd language
We're so glad it was useful Nana. Yes, English spelling can be very misleading sometimes.
Sometimes we also have to guess even thought English is our first language
Great lesson! Thank you!
We're so glad you liked it Glan. Thanks for letting us know and thanks for watching.
Lots of things to learn , as usual. Thank! You're great!!
Glad you liked it, Wesley. Thanks for letting us know and thanks for watching.
Top notch! Thanks ever so much 🙏🙏🙏😊
Glad you enjoyed this one Megna.
I knew it because i worked there in 1965 at the Bell Hotel ! A very ggod immersion to learn English
Oh wow! That's a great way to learn English Henripol4. I hope you had a good time in England.
I am wacthing each video two times 😇👍🏼
Now that's motivation M Z! Terrific! With that dedication we expect you'll advance twice as fast! Bravo! :-)
Great videos. thanks as always.
You are most welcome Sena. Thanks for watching.
it's really hard for me to pronounce width, the dth sound🤣 love ur videos from China❤️
Yes, a lot of students find that hard S Q. Greetings to you in China. :-)
I love these ones
It was such a pleasure to me to see you two on here again!
You two are so sweet couple!
Am pleased watching the every single of your videos coz I love learning and discovering something new
So thank you two gazillion times for your working for us!
Love you two! Cheers! ✌️
Hi lovely couples 😍
It’s easy for me only the word “ peculiarly” I’ve struggled with it ☹️
Thanks a lot 😍
You guys are simply awesome. You’ve got what it takes; so much joy comes across. I love it.
Thanks so much for the kind words Gerson. Much appreciated. :-)
Hello dear Professors
Thank you so much for your help and advice,
i do appreciate your job. I wish you peace and happness under the sky of prosperity. All the best. Take care and have a good time.
Your Student from Algeria.
Said, thank you for your kind words.
Thanks a lot !
You're very welcome Leopolds. :-)
hi! good evening (for you in the US, 1 am in Tehran). I'm happy for your new video! I learned new words. thank's a lot!
I got all the pronunciation right...yippyyyy!!!! Thanks Jay and Vicky...there's still so much to learn..keep up the wonderful job guys..much appreciated. thank you so much.. 😊
Pat yourself on the back, Barsha. Well done!!! We're so glad you liked this video. There are lots more coming.
I missed you so much guys, really love your videos 😄😄😄
Today while I was in the Bus to home I saw a man studing english and I told him. If you Really want to learn The english you'll hear in real life you need to visit Simple English Videos. He got happy and me too because I could Recomend You. Thanks Jay and Vicki.
Oh wow! What a lovely story! A big thank you to for spreading the word about us Alejandro. You've made our day. :-)
@@SimpleEnglishVideos it is a big pleasure to talk about this .I wont loos the chance to do it always I can.
Thank my Teachers
You're very welcome, Raimundo. :-)
This deserves more views
Thanks zAttack. :-)
You're AWESOME! I love what you do and the way you do!!!)))
Inna Chen, that is so kind of you to say. Thank you for that and thanks for watching our video.
Great, Vicki and Jay :) Some words are really challenging :)
Hello Ahmed. So good to hear form you. We're glad you enjoyed this one.
Thanks for your videos! I can't be tired to repeat it.😆😆
So glad you liked it Sample. Thanks for writing. :-)
I do love your video lessons. Thank you very much! They were all really difficult words to pronounce for us non-native English, "peculiarly" this last one 😉 😄
We're so glad you like them Alice. We'll try to make some more.
You're fantastic! :) Thank you for all of your videos. :)
So glad you liked it Armand. :-)
@@SimpleEnglishVideos All the pleasure is mine. :) Thank you for your outstanding work!
Hi Vicky and Jay the back chaining technique works great. Looking forward to the next video.
Yes, Josephine. This is Jay writing back to you. Bach chaining worked for me when I had a problem with 'peculiarly.' Thanks for writing to us and thanks for watching.
Thank you very much
You're very welcome Jasmina. :-)
Amazing both !!! I learn english with yours!!!! Sorry for my english ! Cheers from Argentina!!!
Federico, we are so happy we are helping you learn English. Thanks for letting us know and thanks for watching.
Hm, could it be that when it comes to "Squirrel", that it is "Squrel", whereas it British English the "i" comes first, so:"Squirrel". It sounds as if Jay dropped the "i" completely, leaving "Squrel".
Hi Sarah, this is Vicki. Yes, this is what seems to be happening to me as well. :-)
I really love theme may god bless them
Thanks so much Madchen. :-)
funny and useful as always !
For me, width doesn’t get the d at all. I assume it’s a regional variant of some sort
Hi Breiten, you are most likely correct. Regional variations in pronunciation are very common in both the UK and the US. One good American example is the word 'oil.' In New York and most of the northeastern part of the country it is pronounced as 'oy-l.' But in parts of the southeastern US, Georgia for example, oil is pronounced 'all.' Thanks for writing to us and thanks for watching our videos.
Ye Im from great britain and i always just say for width i say withhh
@British Teeth i am from britain and people do CARE about our country just because we are a bit of a messed up country dont mean nobody cares about britain.u probably offended some people there.
great job!
Thanks Harvey. :-)
I can’t say “mirror”😂😂😂😂
Oh yes, Rub3n. A lot of students find that hard. We looked at it in this video: ruclips.net/video/ABPiXDziEfU/видео.html
🤣 same its sound like millol
Just say "Mira"
X I tend to use the American accent though
Hey, I wonder how you pronounce 'particularly' in American English, it's really confusing with the R L at the end, that's one if the reasons why I adore British English. I like both accents cause that's English and I love your videos guys! Keep up the good work! ❤️
Oh yes Dancho. It has a tricky double /l/ sound at the end. I'll add it to our list of words for a future video. I wonder if Jay will find it hard like peculiarly. :-)
Thanks
You're welcome Oni. :-)
awesome 👍
So glad you liked it Aneesh. :-)
No comment for the efforts that you do just thank you alot 😘
And thank you so much for writing and saying that. :-)
Great
We're so glad you liked it Youssef. Thanks for letting us know and thanks for watching.
you are so positive! my mom even subscribed your channel!
Yay! Please say thank you to your mom Helmi. :-)!
(if your British) the woman reminds me a bit of your reception teacher or the woman at the church for your Christmas carol service 😂
Hi Vicki Hi Jay How good it is to watch your videos thank you for teaching us the English language
Have s great weekend 😉🇧🇷
Hi Apericido. It's so good to hear from you again. Thanks for watching this video.
haha i love your humor :)
So glad you enjoyed it ok. :-)
thank you so much, your videos always helped me, especially in school, since English is not my native language :)
Ana-Mrija, we are very happy to know that our videos are helping you in your English studies. Keep up the good work and thanks for watching our videos.
The guy in the blue T-shirt (2:32) absolutely nailed it! He *perfectly* pronounced the word that so many non-native speakers struggle with.
I agree Zyndr! He did a great job. He told us he was studying for the Cambridge Advanced Exam and I expect he'll do well.:-)
"I never heard of a drunken driver who drown in the drink and never drink." "Hard to believe." "Also hard to say."
It IS hard to say! Thanks mozartjpn. :-)
The best
Thanks Juci. :-)
A video very nice :)
We're so glad you liked it Piedad. Thanks for letting us know and thanks for watching.
Vicki and Jay 💓
I remember trying to read a page using the British pronunciation and the following page using the American one... it was fun!
Hi Mamy Mimma. This is Jay writing back to you. You must do it better than me, because Vicki laughs hysterically whenever I try to speak British English. Good to hear from you as always, and thanks for watching.
@@SimpleEnglishVideos
😂 And do you laugh when Vicki tries the American accent? You're a wonderful couple 😍
You are so nice! You make lovely videos!
Thank you for these kind words Anaclet. :-)
I love you guys! You really help me. By the way... British accent is so hard to do.... Kisses from Poland!
We're so glad you liked it ehehehehe. Greetings to you in Poland. :-)
Hard but beautiful!
When speaking about the word “Width”, there is a word for stopping half way through your pronunciation then starting again. The blank space between the ‘d’ and the ‘th’ is called a “glottal stop”. Just a handy fun fact for anyone who’s interested! :)
Thanks for sharing peachpunk. Glottal stops normally occur with /t/ sounds.
Simple English Videos Oh cool! I thought it applied to all those types of sounds. It’s nice to know otherwise. Thank you!
There are a lot of cities/towns in Massachusetts that are the same in Britain. ❤️
Hi Lenalight. This is Jay writing back to you. I never understood why I couldn't find the place called "Wooster" Massachusetts on a map. There was this town with the funny name "Worcester" but why would that be "Wooster." Very odd. :-) Thanks for writing to us and thanks for watching.
Simple English Videos Yes, same goes for Gloucester and Leicester. 😋
Thank you, this video was a helpful one. The most difficult part of English for non-native speakers is when “s” sound goes before or after “th”. I can’t quite describe it, but tongue gets twisted and brain confuses these sounds, so you might end up wis thomething like zat.
Ah yes, that can be very tricky. Thanks Ilya.
Thanks It's useful for me, I am from Indonesia
We're so glad it was useful. Thanks for writing Wandi.
Greetings from Turkey. I love your videos
Hi Son Oyun Gecesi. Greetings from Philadelphia. We're so glad you enjoy our videos. Thanks for letting us know and thanks for watching.
Could you make a video about "subject-verb inversions". They are structures such as "Not only", "There is/are", "Hardly" etc. by giving examples and cases of use. Thanks 😁
(I'm French)
Thanks so much for this thoughtful reply Abho. :-)
Hi Herve. I see Abho has already responded with some thoughts on this. Thanks you Abho. And thanks for the suggestion. Herve.
I luv u both Vicky and Jay
Hey! Nice vid
Glad you liked it Leoardladd. :-)
Thanks for such a good video!Pronunciation problems in the past-USSR countries are very common due to hard russian accent.
From Russia with love ✨💛
We're very glad you found this video useful, Max. Thanks for writing to us and thanks for watching.
Great video as always! I like them, because I learn something and can laugh a little bit hear and there.
Now, I want to say and ask a few things:
Island with the S is correct if you refer to the country in europe. But else it is without s (like „i-land“). Am I right?
Vicky, you say priority with a clear t sound. I do too, but I heard people from England (especially London) say it without the t (a glottal t) like „priori-y“. Is this a good way to pronounce it, or would you suggest, to say it with the clear t sound?
I have to say, that I heard „width“ for the first time. I now have a new word in my vocabulary. Thanks! That‘s amazing!
I‘d like Vicky to answer my questions with an comment.
Thanks for these videos and hope to see many more in the future!
King regards
Marsel Madzar
Hi Marsel, Vicki here. We're so glad you liked the video.
Now re island, good question! The s is silent when you're referring to a piece of land surrounded by water. But when you're referring to Iceland (the country in the North Atlantic Ocean - notice it's spelt with a c not s) it's pronounced. So for the sentence 'Iceland is an island' we'd say aɪslənd iz ən aɪlənd.
Oh, and now the glottal stop. You're quite right. You'll hear it, particularly in and around London. It tends to be associated with informal speech and also working classes, but there could well be situations where it will help you fit in. Priority is quite a formal word though, so I think you'll generally hear it with a clear /t/ sound. We plan to make a video about cockney rhyming slang and I expect we'll be looking at the glottal stop in that.
Hi guys! Can you please give me a short explanation in regards writing dates in US English? What day is it today? It’s September the 18th, 2019. Is ‘the’ optional? As far as I know it is. And also what about using the ‘on’ preposition? When is the meeting? It’s (on) September (the) 20th. When to leave out ‘on’ and ‘the’? Does it really matter? I appreciate your answer. Thanks! 🙏
Hi TibiQrious. This is a great question! The way we say dates is rather different and we'll try to make a video about this. Thank you for the suggestion.
Both of you are so nice 🤩 English is my third languege but I thing that I'm realy good at it , and even that in school we learn the amerecan accent I like the british more and so many people tell me that I sound british 🤩🙂☺️
Great to meet you, Reema and congratulations on your English. We're so glad you like the video. :-)
@@SimpleEnglishVideos thank you ♥️♥️
I like them
Thanks ask me. :-)
you are amazing 🥰♥️
Thanks so much biann. :-)
Simple English Videos Thank you for making wonderful videos
I learned a lot of English thanks to you
Greetings from Argentina ♥️
I live in Wisconsin. I've always said Priority. With the strong T. Maybe it's just me? But in this video. I don't think they're considering the many local dialects in England and the U.S.
Hi walleye364. We used the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary as our guide for this video. What we've learned, however, is that there are many variations of the phrases and words we've used depending on region, nationality and other factors. Thanks for writing to us and thanks for watching our video.
I love British accent!
Thanks Abdeleh.
The most difficult word to pronounce (at least for me) was ’Peculiarly.’ It’s definitely a peculiarly difficult one.😅I will keep practising. Have a wonderful weekend! Vicky and Jay ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I like video like this
That's great to hear jamil. We have some more similar videos in the works.
Native english speaker here. I find "peculiarly" quite difficult to say, too. I think it has something to do with the way the syllables move around in the mouth. At least with "width", the "d" and "th" are adjacent. It's one of those words where sometimes you feel like saying, "Congratulations! You said it!" to someone when they manage to spit it out correctly.
Hi William. This is Jay writing back to you. I was surprised when I realized I was having trouble with it. I later figured out that despite all my years as a native speaker, a journalist and a training specialist, I somehow confused 'peculiarly' with 'particularly'. Vicki straightened me out with her back chaining technique. Thanks so much for writing to us and for watching this video.
@@SimpleEnglishVideos Yeah. That back chaining thing works wonders, doesn't it? Turns out I've been doing something like that myself without any coaching when I trip on something difficult.
I'm sure we all have some set of words we mix up or have issues with regularly.
Hello 👋🏻 teachers_👩🏫👨🏼🏫 very interesting words say_🤔 “twister tongue_😛” to tell. For example; my languages Kyrgyz a words «Тыйын чычкан / Squirrel_🐿» 👉🏻 Соin / (tiyin), mouse_🐭🐁 /(cickhan)...
me， as a Chinese
， I think they are useful~
That's great to hear. Thanks Yuchen. :-)
Hi, can you help me how to pronounce, "Literally" as i heard when some British sounding it like " lick- ther- lee", and I do have difficulty to pronounce it :( Thanks x
Hi Ayu. This word is on our list and in the meantime, you might like this video we made about this word. ruclips.net/video/XGlLmfqwRuQ/видео.html
Thats very funny😂👍
That's great to hear. Thanks Paloma. :-)
Oh my God
I can't tell you how much I love you !
Thanks so much for the kind words Anna. :-)
Could someone please tell me the ending sound of the word ‘With’ - we pronounce it as /wið/ or /wiθ/??? Thanks for replying me ❤️
Hi, The Bella Twins. This is a great question. You'll hear people pronounce the word with /wɪð/or /wɪθ/, so voiced or unvoiced. It's unusual because when th comes at the end of a word, it's normally unvoiced. But with is an exception because you'll hear it said both ways.
Hello, I don't know how to pronounce breadth and width lol...Is it the same pronunciation as in breath and with ?
אבהו דלשר Thank u !
Vulnerable -》 we lose the 'r'
Its simply the casual (and more easier) way to say it :)
Btw: you guys are soo adorable, cant stop watching ur vids. 🤗👍👍
Thanks so much for this Ada. :-)
A very helpful video😍
I want to ask something, would u pls answer
My grammar book says that when we find the cause or circumstance responsible for present situation we use simple past
For ex- Who gave u that?(by looking at the present)
Ex- "How did u get that bruise?"(asking about the cause)
Then keeping this in mind
Can i say
Q1)) "where did u come from?"
Or should i say this👇
"Where have you come from?"
(by looking at the person who has just come)
Q2)) A situation like this-"what have you done with my room ? It is so messy."
Or
What did u do with my room? It is so messy.
Then which is correct???
Please answer
Please
Q1- either is correct in British English. You might say ‘Where did you come from?’ if the person appeared suddenly and surprised you, with the emphasis on ‘you’. Or you could emphasise the ‘come’ if you just wondered where they’d been. Or you could also ask ‘where have you come from?’ Both work.
Q2 in British English, you would ask ‘what did you do *to* my room? It’s so messy!’ You wouldn’t use with in this situation. The room just sat there- it didn’t participate in the mess-making. You could ask ‘what did you do with my baby! She’s so messy!’ But you could swap the ‘with’ for a ‘to’ there and the meaning is almost the same.
Simple English has both BE and AE. It’s worth a great fortune.
Yay Leicester!
HI ZackYT. This is Jay writing back to you. Did you mean Lie Chester? LOL Thanks for writing to us and thanks for watching our video.
Simple English Videos oh I was talking about the city Leicester in the east midlands
I'm twelve- English is my second language and I can say all of those words
Well done Unicorn Lover. Keep up the good work! :-)
Is the r sound in British English pronunciation of the word Squirrel a "flapped r"?
If so, are there any dictionaries where flapped r is somehow indicated?
If so, how are they indicated?
Is the flapped r used only in British English?
Do you plan to make any video especially about the flapped r?
Hi Pat. Maybe I have misunderstood, but no, it's not a flapped r - there's no fricative there. It's just a simple 'r' sound. Some people think the American flapped t sound sounds like and 'r'. I wonder if this is what you are thinking of?
Hi Vicki. Thanks for your reply. I read in one of tutorials about (British) Standard Pronunciation that the
flapped r occurs before a syllabic l or n, like in the word moral. That is why I thought that the word Squirrel
was also such an example. However I must admit that syllabic sounds in English are the most difficult to me.
Besides, am I right that flapped t occurs in American or Canadian English and not in British English?