recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
IPA phonetic symbol 〚x〛

**IPA consonants**

The IPA phonetic symbol [x] represents a voiceless velar fricative that does not occur in English, except for Scottish *loch* [lox], normally pronounced [lok] in Received Pronunciation or General American. It is also the "j" sound in Spanish, as in José, the "ch" sound in German *Kuchen* (cake) and the sound of the Cyrillic letter Х. The symbol [x] is the Latin version of the Cyrillic letter.

Loanwords form other languages must replace the [x] sound by one found in English.

Arabic
* Khartoum: /kɑːrˈtuːm/

German
* Bach: /bɑːk/
* Liechtenstein: /ˈlɪktənstaɪn/
* Marlene Dietrich: /mɑːrˈleɪnə ˈdiːtrɪk/
* München became Munich: /ˈmjuːnɪk/
* Richter scale: /ˈrɪktər ˌskeɪl/
* Rorschach test: /ˈrɔːrʃɑːk ˌtest/

Greek
* TeX (a typesetting language) should be pronounced [tɛx] but the normal English pronunciation is [tɛk] (/tek/).

Hebrew
* Hanukkah, Chanukah: /ˈhænʊkə/,*BrE* /ˈhɑːnəkə/ *AmE*

Russian
* Khrushchev: /ˈkrʊʃtʃev/

Spanish
* Argentina: /ˌɑːrdʒənˈtiːnə/
* Don Quixote (current Spanish spelling Don Quijote): /ˌdɒn kiːˈhoʊtɪ/;
* jalapeño: /ˌhæləˈpeɪnjəʊ/,*BrE* /ˌhɑːləˈpeɪnjəʊ/*AmE*
* Juan: /wɑːn/
* junta: /ˈdʒʌntə/,*BrE* /ˈhʊntə/*AmE*
* Los Angeles: /lɒs ˈændʒələs/
* Oaxaca: /wəˈhɑːkə/
* San Jose (California): /ˌsæn hoʊˈzeɪ/
* Wine from Xerez (currently Jerez) became "sherry".

Yiddish
* chutzpa: /ˈhʊtspə/
Decoding exercises: "wa"

**IPA consonants**

The vowel in the sequence "wa" has many different pronunciations.

* /ɔː/: walk, wall, walnut, walrus, Walter, waltz
* /æ/: Kwanzaa, swam, wag, wagon, wax
* /ɒ/: swallow, swamp, swan, swap, wallet, wand, wander, wasp, watch, watt
* /ɔː/, /ɒ/*AmE*: water
* /ɒ/, /ɔː/*AmE*: waffle, want, wash, Washington
* /ɒ/, /ʌ/*AmE*: was
* /eɪ/: waste

* with magic e: awake, wade, wage, wake, wave

* /ɑː/: schwa

* Hawaii /həˈwaɪiː, həˈwɑːiː/ Rwanda /ruːˈɑːndə, ruːˈændə/, Taiwan /ˈtaɪˈwɑn/

"war"
* /ɔː/: award, dwarf, reward, swarm, war, wardrobe, warm, warn, warp
* /ə/: afterward,*AmE* afterwards,*BrE* awkward, backward, backwards, forward
* /eə/: wary

* with magic e: aware, beware, Delaware, software

In combinations
* "wai" and "way" as /weɪ/: always, away, Norway, wait, way
* "wai" as /ə/: boatswain, bosun /ˈbəʊsən/

Two different syllables
* "awa" as /ɔːə/: withdrawal
* "ewa" as /(j)uːə/: renewal
* "owa" as /aʊə/: allowance, coward
IPA phoneme \ð\

In English, both in Received Pronunciation and in General American, the IPA phonetic symbol **/ð/** corresponds to the initial consonant sound in words like "the", and "that" and the middle one in "mother" and "gather".

/ð/ is a voiced consonant; its unvoiced counterpart is IPA phoneme /θ/. Both phonemes are consistently spelled "th". See Decoding exercises: "th".

## Common words

**IPA consonants**

With initial /ð/:

* Grammar words: than - that - the - their - them - then - there - these - they - this - those - though - thus

/ð/ in mid-position:

* Grammar words: although - another - either - neither - other - rather - together - whether - within /wɪðˈɪn, wɪθˈɪn*AmE*/ - without /wɪˈðaʊt, wɪθˈaʊt*AmE*/
* Content words: bother - breathing - brother - clothing - father - farther - feather - further - gather - gathering - leather - mother - Netherlands - northern - rhythm - southern /ˈsʌðərn/ - weather

With final /ð/:

* Grammar word: with /wɪð/ *or* /wɪθ/
* Content words: breathe - smooth

## Less common words

* /ð/ in mid-position : heathen, heather, worthy
* With final /ð/: bathe, booth /buːð,*BrE* buːθ*AmE*/, clothe, loathe, soothe, teethe

## Irregular plurals

Some words ending in /θ/ have a plural ending in /ðz/

* baths - mouths - paths - youths

## Anticipated pronunciation difficulties depending on L1

### Spanish

The main difficulty is the difference between **/ð/** and **/d/**, that is, they may have difficulty distinguishing between "they" and "day". In Spanish both sounds are allophones. This means that to the Spanish ear [aˈðjos], and [aˈdjos] are heard as the same word, even if only [aˈðjos] is the natural pronunciation of "adiós".

Since in Spanish [d] always follows [n], a sentence such as "can they go?" may be uttered as \*/kən deɪ ˈgəʊ/.

#### Spain

Many Spanish speakers from Spain don't distinguish clearly between **/ð/** and **/θ/** and when they see "th" tend to pronounce it **/θ/**, a sound which corresponds to the letter "z" in Spanish. They even replace the [ð] sound of standard Spanish by [θ]. For example, the name of the satirical website *La Verdaz* is a phonetic rendering of "La Verdad" in a regional accent from Spain.

## See also

* Decoding exercises: "th"
* Pronunciation exercises: /d/ vs /ð/
* Pronunciation exercises: /θ/ vs /ð/
* TH-fronting

## External links

* British Library, Received Pronunciation consonant sounds
IPA phonetic sequence \juː\

**IPA consonants**

In English, both in Received Pronunciation and in General American, the IPA phonetic sequence **/juː/** corresponds to the diphthong in words like "cute", "few", "university", or "music".

This sequence is not considered a phoneme because it can be studied as /j/+/uː/. However, since it is very common, this diphthong has the informal name **"long U"** or the less informal description of **long sound of the letter U**.

## Common words

Some common words which practise the pronunciation of **/juː/** include the following:

* with "y": you - youth
* as "u": accumulate - community - computer - Cuba - fuel - future - huge - human - humour - Munich - m**u**seum - music - occupy - stimulate - Uganda - ukelele - Ukraine - unicorn - uniform - unique - united - university - **u**sually

Exception: recuperate /rɪˈkuːpəreɪt/
* "u"+magic e: abuse - amuse - commute - confuse - cube - cute - dispute - excuse - huge - mule - refuse - volume
* as "ue": argue - continue - hue - rescue - value
* queue /kjuː/
* as "ew": few - nephew
* as "iew": interview - review - view

## Yod dropping

The sound /j/ is also known as "yod". "Yod dropping" means pronouncing /juː/ as /uː/ as is common in many accents after particular consonants.

Yod is often dropped after /d, n, s, t, θ, z/
* /djuː/ or /duː/: dude - due - dew - duke - dune - introduce - produce - reduce
* /njuː/ or /nuː/: avenue - knew - new - news - nude - nuke - revenue

Exceptions
always /njuː/: manual - menu
* /sjuː/ or /suː/: assume - consumer - pursue - suit - suitable
* /tjuː/ or /tuː/: attitude - opportunity - stew - student - substitute - tube - Tuesday - tune
* /θjuː/ or /θuː/: enthusiasm

Exception
always /θjuː/: Matthew
* /zjuː/ or /zuː/: presume - resume

Yod is not dropped after /b, f, g, h, k, m, p, v/
* /juː/: abuse - confuse - argue - human - cute - amuse - computer - view

Exception:

* /uː/ and also /juː/: recuperate

There is seldom yod after /dʒ, l, r, ʃ, tʃ, ʒ/
* /uː/: June, blue, rule, sure, chew, casual

Exceptions:

* /juː/: value, volume
* /juː/ or /jə/: cellular, evaluate

## /jə/

When "u" is unstressed it may sound /jə/ or (according to some dictionaries) /jʊ/. The following examples are all pronounced /jə/ according to Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (OALD), and some as /jʊ/ according to Cambridge Dictionaries Online (CDO).

* /jə/ (OALD) or /jʊ/ (CDO): accurate - ambulance - consecutive - formula
* /jə/ (OALD, CDO): failure - popular - regular

## References

1. ↑ Oxford Learner's Dictionaries
2. ↑ Cambridge Dictionaries Online , British English.

## See also

* IPA phoneme /j/
* IPA phoneme /uː/
* Decoding the letter U
Decoding exercises: "ow"

Together with the page possible pronunciation difficulties, this page sets out some common words that can be used to become more aware of how you can sound out more correctly the different sounds corresponding to words containing "ow", mainly /aʊ/ and /əʊ/.

## Common words

* /aʊ/: allow, bow *(inclination)*, brow, brown, browse, clown, cow, crowd, crown, down, drown, eyebrow, frown, how, now, owl, powder, row *(quarrel)*, towel, town, vowel, wow
* /aʊə/: coward, flower, power, shower, tower

* /əʊ/: arrow, below, blow, borrow, bowl, crow, elbow, fellow, flow, follow, grow, grown, growth, know, low, narrow, owe, own, row *(line)*, shadow, show, slow, snow, throw, tomorrow, tow, window, yellow

* /ɒ/: knowledge /ˈnɒlɪdʒ/ - knowledgeable /ˈnɒlɪdʒəbəl/
* towards*BrE*/toward*AmE*: /təˈwɔːrd(z)/*BrE* /tɔːrd(z)/*AmE*

## Minimal pairs

/aʊ/ vs. /əʊ/: clown - clone; drown - drone; now - know/no; town - tone

One extra consonant with /aʊ/: how - house; owl - foul;

One extra consonant with /əʊ/: blow - bloke; glow - globe

## Heteronyms

* bow: /baʊ/ *inclination* - /bəʊ/ *weapon;* row: /raʊ/ *quarrel* - /rəʊ/ *line;*

## Two sounds in one concept

* /əʊ/-/aʊ/: burrowing owl *(Athene cunicularia)*

## These words don't rhyme

/aʊ/ vs. /əʊ/: cow - low; now - know; owl - bowl; allow - below; flower - slower; frown - grown

## One extra letter changes the vowel

* /aʊ/ then /əʊ/: owl - bowl; now - know, snow;

* /əʊ/ then /aʊ/: crow - crowd, crown;

## Different syllables

* /ə.w/: Halloween, kilowatt
* /ə.w, əʊ.w/: microwave

## Spanish L1

Spanish speakers are notorious bad listeners. They will often pronounce /əʊ/ instead of /aʊ/. Even the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language suggested the spelling *"clon"* for "clown", when it should have been *"claun"*.

## References

1. ↑ Diccionario de la Real Academia Española, 22nd edition, clon. This meaning was suppressed in the 23rd edition of the dictionary.

## See also

* Decoding and spelling exercises: /əʊ/ vs /aʊ/
* Decoding exercises: "ou"
* Spelling exercises: "ou" vs "ow"
IPA phoneme \ɔɪ\

In English, both in Received Pronunciation and in General American, the IPA phonetic symbol **/ɔɪ/** corresponds to the vowel sound in words like "toy" and "coin". The spelling of this sound is very straightforward: normally "oy" at the end of the syllable and "oi" in other positions. In the words in this page the only exceptions are proper nouns (Joyce, Floyd, Lloyd and Freudian).

In strict IPA diphthongs need an inverted breve under their less prominent vowel: /ɔɪ̯/. However the notation we are using does not have the symbol /ɔ/ by itself (it has /ɔː/), and therefore we know that the sequence /ɔɪ/ has an implied inverted breve below /ɪ/.

In addition to the more common pronunciation [ɔɪ], the sound of this phoneme can have many variations such as [oɪ], [ɑi] or even [ɔjɪ].

## Common words

Some common words which practice the pronunciation of **/ɔɪ/** include the following:

* with "**oi**": appoint, avoid, choice, coin, Illinois /ˌɪləˈnɔɪ/, join, joint, noise, oil, point, soil, spoil, voice

Exceptions: "oi" as /əʊɪ/: coincide, going
* with "**oy**": boy, destroy, destroyer, employ, employee, employer, enjoy, Floyd, joy, Joyce, Lloyd, royal, toy

There is a tendency in English to move to the previous syllable a /j/ sound that is at the beginning of a syllable. Then /V.jV/ becomes /Vɪ.V/. For example "lawyer" has a common pronunciation of /ˈlɔ:jər/ but it can also be pronounced /ˈlɔɪər/. Similarly for "sawyer": /ˈsɔ:jər/ or (less frequently) /ˈsɔɪər/.

## Less common words

* with **"oi"**: android, boil, foil, moisture, ointment, poison, sirloin, toilet
* with **"oy"**: annoy, boycott, oyster, royal, soy
* Other: Freudian

## References

1. ↑ Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary, choice.
2. ↑ Wikipedia, Australian English phonology.
3. ↑ *Phonetics: A Contemporary Approach*, Arden R. Thorum, p. 126. Available in Google Books.

## See also

* Decoding the letter Y
* Decoding exercises: "oi"
* Decoding exercises: "oy"

## External links

* British Library, Vowel sounds of Received Pronunciation
KDnusky

**KDnusky** es una figura pública del Imperio de Pangea.

## Cargos públicos

Actualmente, KDnusky ejerce las funciones de:

* Alcalde en Mandarina, Oasis, Melenara, Villanada, Niferia, Celyria y Eulentya.
* Consejero Real del Consejo Real de los Desiertos por Mandarina, Oasis y Melenara.
* Consejero Real del Consejo Real de las Montañas por Villanada.
* Consejero Real del Consejo Real de las Flores por Niferia.
* Consejero Real del Consejo Real de los Pantanos por Celyria y Eulentya.
* Diputado del Parlamento Imperial por Mandarina, Oasis, Melenara, Villanada, Niferia, Celyria y Eulentya.
* Alto Juez del Tribunal Superior Imperial de Justicia por Celyria.
Decoding the letter K

**IPA consonants**

The letter **K**, lowercase **k** (pronounced /keɪ/) normally represents IPA phoneme /k/.

* Normally "k" is used before "e" or "i", after "n" or as the last sound of the syllable

as the last sound of the syllable: bake - book - break - breakfast - dark - like - look - make - oak - shake - shark - sink - take - think - walk - week - weekly - work
after "n": ankle - wrinkle
before "e" or "i": donkey - keep - kill - kind - kiss - kitchen - market - skin - speaker - market - worker
* Exceptionally "k" is used before "a", "o", "u", "l" or "r" in the same syllable:

chakra /ˈtʃʌkrə/ - haiku - kangaroo - Kansas - karate - karma - klaxon *(also* claxon) - koala - Korea - okay - Oklahoma - remarkable
* "ck" sounds /k/: attack - black - check - chicken - lock - luck - rock - sock - shock - sick - stick - thick - ticket

* exceptionally "kk" is used: trekking

* In transliterations "kh" represents IPA phonetic symbol [x], which is normally pronounced as /k/. Khrushchev is [xrʊˈɕːɵf] in Russian and /ˈkrʊʃtʃev/ in English.

* Exceptionally "k" can be silent.

knee - knife - knock - know - knowledge /ˈnɒlɪdʒ/ - unknown /ʌnˈnəʊn/
* Homophones

kernel - colonel; knew - new; know - no
Phoneme \ɑː\ in Received Pronunciation

This phonetics article is based on British English and Received Pronunciation. For an article valid in most of the English speaking world see **IPA phoneme /ɑː/**. For American English see **Phoneme /ɑː/ in General American** and **Phoneme /æ/ in General American**.

In Received Pronunciation, the IPA phonetic symbol **/ɑː/** corresponds to the vowel sound in words like "start", "art", "bath", "ask", "palm" and "spa".

In General American this symbol corresponds to the vowel sound in words like "start", "art", "palm", "spa", "lot" and "stop". See also Phoneme /ɑː/ in General American and IPA phoneme /ɒ/.

In Received Pronunciation /ɑːr/ is pronounced [ɑː] unless it is followed by a vowel, i.e. the "r" is normally silent unless it is followed by a vowel.

In General American the "r" is always pronounced.

There are places in the United Kingdom where the "r" is pronounced, and places in North America where it is not pronounced.

## Common words

Some common words which practice the pronunciation of /ɑː/ include the following:

* with "**a**" (AmE /æ/): adv**a**nce, adv**a**ntage, after, answer, ask, ban**a**na, basket, bath, branch, can't, cast, castle, chance, class, contrast, dance, demand, disaster, draft, example, fast, glance, glass, grant, grass, half, last, mask, master, pass, past, path, plant, photograph, rather, sample, staff, task, vast

others: father /ˈfɑːðər/*BrE* ,*AmE* tomato /təˈmɑːtəʊ/*BrE* /təˈmeɪtəʊ/*AmE*
* with "**ar**": apart, are /ər, ɑːr/, aren't, argue /ˈɑːrɡjuː/, argument, arm, army, art, article, artist, bar, car, card, carpet, charge, charm, chart, dark, department, far, farm, garden, guard /ɡɑːrd/, guitar, hard, harm, large, march, mark, market, park, part, partner, party, regard, remark, sharp, smart, star, start, target /ˈtɑːrɡɪt/, yard

### Spelling anomalies

* with "**au**" (AmE /æ/): aunt, draught*BrE* /drɑːft/, laugh
* clerk /klɑːrk,*BrE* klɜːrk*AmE*/
* heart

### Homophones

* aren't - aunt;
* draft (rough version) - draught*BrE* (flow of air)

## Less common words

* /ɑː/*BrE* *AmE*: bra, calm, dr**a**ma, fac**a**de, enhance, ko**a**la, l**a**ma, ll**a**ma, nuance, palm, spa
* /ɑː,*BrE* æ*AmE*/: slander

## These words don't rhyme

* /ɑː, æ/: example - ample; father - gather; demand - hand; pass - mass;
* /ɑːðz, æθs/: paths - maths

## Anticipated pronunciation difficulties depending on L1

### Spanish

Many Spanish speakers have difficulty remembering that in Received Pronunciation **/ɑː/** is pronounced the same whether there is an "**r**" after the "**a**" or not.

## External links

* British Library: Learning - Sounds Familiar?
IPA phoneme \h\

In English, both in Received Pronunciation and in General American, the IPA phonetic symbol **/h/** corresponds to the initial consonant sound in words like "hot" and "who".

## Common words

Initial pronunciation of **/h/**:

* With "h": Haiti, half, hand, happen, Harold, hard, hat, have, Hawaii, he, head, hear, heat, help, Henry, here, high, history, hit, home, hold, hot, house, how, human, Hungary, hut

* With "wh": who, whole, whose

Mid-word pronunciation of **/h/**: ahead, alcohol, behave, behaviour, behind, childhood, Ohio, Oklahoma

## Loan words

From Spanish
* Don Quixote (current Spanish spelling Don Quijote): /ˌdɒn kiːˈhoʊtɪ/
* jalapeño: /ˌhæləˈpeɪnjəʊ/,*BrE* /ˌhɑːləˈpeɪnjəʊ/*AmE*
* junta: /ˈhʊntə/,*AmE* /ˈdʒʌntə/*BrE*
* Oaxaca: /wəˈhɑːkə/
* San Jose (California): /ˌsæn hoʊˈzeɪ/

From Yiddish
* chutzpa: /ˈhʊtspə/

## Anticipated pronunciation difficulties depending on L1

### Spanish

Some Spanish speakers will replace /h/ by [x], a similar sound which corresponds to the letter "j" in Spanish.

The letter "h" in Spanish is always silent. This means that "hospital" is [ospi'tal]. Compensating for this, some students will pronounce the "h" in English words such as honest and honour.

## External links

* British Library, Received Pronunciation consonant sounds
Pronunciation exercises: \əʊ\ vs \ɒ\

/ɒ/ is a monophthong and /əʊ/ is a diphthong. These sounds are not very similar, but their spelling may be the same (as in *doll* and *roll)*.

Words marked with \* are pronounced with /ɔː/ in many places of the United States (particularly in General American).

## Spelling

/ɒ/ is always followed by one or more consonants. In derived words a single consonant is usually doubled (hop, hopping; rot, rotten).

## /əʊ/

* with "oa": boat - coast - coat - foam - goal - toast
* with "ow": bowl - own
* with "o" and magic e: bone - choke - close - cone - gnome - hole - home - hope - phone - Rome - stone - tone - vote
* with "o": both - mobile - notable - only - open - over - program
* with "ol": cold - control - fold - gold - hold - old - poll - roll - sold - told
* with "os": ghost - host - most
* with "ou": shoulder - soul

homophones: hole - whole; loan - lone; poll - pole; roll - role; soul - sole;

When /əʊ/ is at the end of the word there is no possibility of confusion, because /ɒ/ is always followed by a consonant.

* with "ow": blow, flow, know, low, show, snow, throw
* with "o": ago, also, go, potato, video
* with "ou": although, though

## /ɒ/

* with "o": doll - golf\* - hot - lot - off\* - on\* - stop - top;
* with "ong"\*: long - song - strong - wrong;
* others: gone\* - knowledge - want\* - what.

## /əʊ/ vs /ɒ/

* Minimal pairs: boat - bot; coast - cost;\* coma - comma; goat - got; hope - hop; Joan - John; modal - model; note - not; owed - odd; own - on;\* Pope - pop; won't - want;\*
* These words don't rhyme: gross - boss;\* most - lost;\* roll - doll;
* Other: go - gone;\* gold - golf;\* Joe - John; know - knowledge; no - not; program - problem;

## Variant pronunciations

* holistic: /həʊˈlɪstɪk, hɒˈlɪstɪk/
* productivity: /prɒdʌkˈtɪvətiː,*BrE* *AmE* ˌproʊdʌkˈtɪvətiː*AmE*/
* progress: /ˈprəʊɡres,*BrE* ˈprɒgres, ˈprɒgrəs*AmE*/
* shone: /ʃɒn,*BrE* ʃəʊn*AmE*/

## Spanish L1

Spanish does not have the diphthong *"ou"*, but most people have no problem pronouncing *show* when speaking Spanish as [tʃou]. On the other hand, since the diphthong does not exist, it is normal to drop the [u] sound. For example *póster* for "poster", *eslogan* for "slogan", *gol* for "goal" (score) and *jonrón* for "home run" (baseball jargon). Most Spanish speakers can be educated into pronouncing correctly the /əʊ/ sound, either as [əʊ], [əu], [oʊ] or [ou].

The main problem is the spelling. Words such as "gold" or "host" are much more likely to be pronounced incorrectly than "boat" or "home".

## See also

* Decoding the letter O
* So-called “short o”
* So-called “long o”
* Pronunciation exercises: /əʊ/ vs /ɔː/
* Silent e
Heteronym

**IPA consonants**

Two different words are **heteronyms** if they have different meanings and different pronunciations but share the spelling. For example the metal "lead" /led/ and the verb "lead" /liːd/.

Wikipedia has a long list of heteronyms in Heteronym (linguistics).

## Common heteronyms

Noun is stressed in the first syllabe, verb is stressed in the second or in the last syllable

Other examples

* conduct, content, contract, contrast, desert, object, present, produce, project, process, survey, subject, transfer, transport

Noun is pronounced with /s/, verb is pronouced with /z/.

Other

## Riddle

What words change their pronunciation when capitalized?

The answer to this riddle is below.
Decoding exercises: "ov"

**IPA consonants**

The vowel in the sequence "ov" has several different pronunciations.

* /ɒ/: impoverish, novel, novice, ovulation, poverty, providence, sovereign
* /ʌ/: covenant, cover, discover, government, lover, oven, shovel, slovenly
* /əʊ/: bovine, jovial, nova, ovary, ovation, over, overt, ovoid, retrovirus
* /uː/: approval, movie, removal
* /ə/: controversial, extroverted, improvise, innovation, Muscovite, provide, provision, provocative

* with magic e

/əʊ/: clove, drove, stove
* with silent e

/uː/: approve, improve, move, prove
/ʌ/: above, dove *(bird),* glove, love
## Variant pronunciations

* anchovy /ˈæntʃəviː, ˈæntʃəʊviː*AmE*/
* Coventry /ˈkʌvəntriː, ˈkɒvəntriː/

## Heteronyms

* dove: /dʌv/ (bird) - /dəʊv/*AmE* *(past tense of* dive)

## See also

* Decoding the letter O
* Decoding and spelling exercises: "o" adjacent to "m", "n", "v" or "w"
IPA phoneme \b\

In Received Pronunciation and in General American, the IPA phonetic symbol **/b/** corresponds to the initial consonant sound in words like "boy", and "band" and the final one in "pub" and "globe".

/b/ is a voiced consonant; its unvoiced counterpart is IPA phoneme /p/.

## Common words

Some common words which practice the initial pronunciation of **/b/** include the following:

* ball - bear - bird - black - blue - body - book - bring - brother - bull - busy

Some common words which practice the mid-position pronunciation of **/b/** include the following:

* able - about - cabbage - double - number - problem - public - rabbit - remember - subject

Some common words which practice the final pronunciation of **/b/** include the following:

* club - disturb - grab - job - pub - verb - web

## /b.b/

Normally double "b" is pronounced as a single /b/ (as in "rabbit" or "grabbing"). In the following examples two /b/'s are pronounced.

* subbasement, subbranch, subbronchial

## Anticipated pronunciation difficulties depending on L1

### Spanish

The main difficulty is the difference between **/b/** and **/v/**, that is, they may have difficulty distinguishing between "ban" and "van".

The spelling confuses some students and they may pronounce silent "b"s, as \*/klaɪmb/ for "climb" (/klaɪm/).

## See also

* Decoding the letter B
* Pronunciation exercises: /b/ vs /v/
* Pronunciation exercises: /b/ vs /p/
* IPA phoneme /p/

## External links

* British Library, Received Pronunciation consonant sounds
Decoding the letter H

**IPA consonants**

The letter **H**, lowercase **h** (pronounced /eɪtʃ/) normally represents IPA phoneme /h/. For examples see IPA phoneme /h/.

At the end of the word "h" is silent:

* cheetah - Deborah - pharaoh - Sarah - Utah

In other positions exceptionally "h" can be silent.

* annihilation /əˌnaɪəˈleɪʃən/ - Birmingham - chihuahua /tʃɪˈwɑːwɑ,*AmE* tʃɪˈwɑːwə*BrE*/ - dachshund /ˈdæksənd/*BrE* - exhaust - exhibition - honest - honor*AmE* - honour*BrE* - hour - Nottingham - prohibition - shepherd - vehement - vehicle

Homophones

hour - our
## H in combinations

* "bh": as /b/. Bhutan
* "ch": see Decoding exercises: "ch"
* "gh": see Decoding exercises: "gh"
* "kh": see IPA phonetic symbol [x]
* "ph": see Decoding the letter P
* "rh" and "rrh" sound like "r"

* arrhythmia - catarrh - diarrhea*AmE* - diarrhoea*BrE* - rhinoceros - rhyme - rhythm
* sounded "h": waterhole

* "sh": see IPA phoneme /ʃ/

"sh" as /sh/: see Decoding exercises: "sh"
* "th": see Decoding exercises: "th"
* "wh" in contemporary English in most dialects is identical to "w". See IPA phoneme /w/
* "zh": see IPA phoneme /ʒ/
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries

**Oxford Learner's Dictionaries** is web site with two free on-line monolingual learner's dictionaries provided by Oxford University Press.
Its URL is http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/.

* Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (OALD), the basis for the phonetic notation in this wiki. It has both British English and American English pronunciations.
* Oxford Advanced American Dictionary (OAAD)

There is a drop-down menu that lets the user select English (OALD) or American English (OAAD).
So-called “short” and “long” vowels

In English spelling each vowel letter has two main sounds. The so-called “short” vowel (or short sound of the vowel) is a monophthong and the so-called “long” vowel (or long sound of the vowel) is a diphthong (considering /iː/ as [ij] and /uː/ as [uw]).

When decoding written words we consider "a" as in *bath* and "o" as in *cloth* to be short sounds, or, more precisely, to have short vowel spelling, because /ɑː/ and /ɔː/ are long sounds. The table used for reading is as follows.

“Short” vowel spelling uses double consonants.

“Long” vowel spelling uses magic e.

## See also

This table has links to *So-called “short V”* and *So-called “long V”* where V is a vowel letter.
Decoding exercises: "ñ"

**IPA consonants**

The letter **"ñ"** (n with a tilde on top) is a Spanish letter sometimes used in English. Its sound is [ɲ], similar to English /nj/. English words that have it are often spelled with "n" and pronounced with /nj/ or /n/.

## Examples

* El Niño current: /ˌel ˈniːnjəʊ/
* jalapeño: /ˌhæləˈpeɪnjəʊ*BrE*, ˌhɑːləˈpeɪnjəʊ*AmE*/
* piña colada: /ˌpiːnə kəˈlɑːdə, ˌpiːnjə kəʊˈlɑːdə/
* piñata: /pɪnˈjɑːtə/
* vicuña, vicuna: /vɪˈkuːnjə/

## See also

* Decoding the letter N
* Loanword
* English is not Spanish
Weak form

Some words, such as "could" have a strong form (/kʊd/) and a **weak form** (/kəd/). Words that have strong and weak forms have the strong form when the word is stressed (normally for emphasis) and a **weak form** when the word is not stressed. Normally the weak form is identical to the strong form, with the vowel changed by schwa /ə/.

Native speakers sometimes think they are using the language badly when they use weak forms but this is not the case. They are a perfectly natural part of the English language, and the schwa is the most common sound in the language.

## Examples

**IPA consonants**

The main words with weak forms are:

### A

a /eɪ, ə/ - am /æm, əm, m/ - an /æn, ən/ - and /ænd, ənd, ən, n/ - are /ɑr, ər/ - as /æz, əz/ - at /æt, ət, ɪt*AmE*/

### C

can /kæn, kən/ - could /kʊd, kəd/

Informal shortened forms of "because":

* UK: cos, ‘cause /kɒz, kəz/
* US: ‘cause, cos /kɔːz, kʌz, kəz/

### F

for /fɔːr, fər/ - from /frɒm, frʌm*AmE*, frəm/

### H

had /hæd, həd, əd/ - has /hæz, həz, əz/ - have /hæv, həv, əv/ - he - her - him - his

#### the

Strong form: /ˈðiː/

Weak form

before a consonant: /ðə/
before a vowel: /ðiː, ðɪ/
#### to

Strong form: /tuː/

Weak form

before a consonant: /tə/
before a vowel /tuː, tʊ/

### W

was, we, were, what /wɒt, wʌt*AmE*, wət*AmE*/, would

## Negatives don't have weak forms

Negative contractions don't have weak forms. For example, "could" has the weak form /kəd/ but "couldn't" only has the form /ˈkʊdənt/. Similary "are" has the weak form /ər/ but "aren't" only has the form /ɑːrnt/ (identical to "aunt" in Received Pronunciation).
So-called “short a”

The so-called **“short a” sound** is an informal term that means **the short sound of the letter a** which is **IPA phoneme /æ/** (for a North American accent see Phoneme /æ/ in General American).

Examples

* In all the English speaking world: trap, have, rapid, battle
* In General American the following examples can be added: after, ask, bath, can't, last

In Received Pronunciation we can say that these words (which sound /ɑː/) have “short a” spelling.
The terms “long a” and “short a” are not recommended because the opposition between /æ/ and /eɪ/ (“long *a*”) is not only a difference in length, but mainly a difference in quality.

## See also

* Decoding the letter A
* Decoding and spelling exercises: /æ/ vs /eɪ/
* So-called “short” and “long” vowels
Spelling the -ing form

An **-ing form** is the form taken by a verb with *-ing* added to the base form (occasionally with some minor spelling changes). These can function used as verbs, nouns or adjectives, and with the addition of -ly as adverbs.

## Spelling rules

* Most verbs add -**ing** to the infinitive form. See *Default* below.
* Verbs ending in **e** replace **e** by **ing**: lik**e** - lik**ing**; reciev**e** - receiv**ing**

* Verbs "dye" and "singe" don't drop the **e**: dye**ing**, singe**ing** /ˈsɪndʒɪŋ/
* In British English the "-ing" form of "age" is spelled "aging" or "ageing"*BrE*

* Verbs ending in one stressed vowel + one consonant (except **w, x** or **y**) double the consonant and add -**ing**: plan**ning**; stop**ping**; refer**ring**; control**ling**;

* In British English, the letter "l" is doubled after a single unstressed vowel: level**ling***BrE* - leveling*AmE*; travel**ling***BrE* - traveling*AmE*

* Verbs ending in -**c** add **king**: picknic**king**; traffic**king**;
* Verbs ending in **ie** change their ending to "ying": die - d**ying**; lie - l**ying**; tie - t**ying**;

* Default. All other verbs add -**ing**.

* Ending in one or more vowels (except final **e**): moo**ing**; ski**ing**;
* Ending in two or more consonants: depend**ing**; push**ing**; start**ing**;
* Ending in two or more vowels + one consonant: explain**ing**; rain**ing**;
* Ending in one unstressed vowel + one consonant: edit**ing**; offer**ing**;

* See exceptions above (verbs ending in "l") and below (Irregular spelling)

* Ending in **w, x** or **y**: play**ing**; enjoy**ing**; copy**ing**; fly**ing**; show**ing**; tax**ing**;

## Irregular spelling

The following regular verbs have an irregular spelling in their past tense

* benefit - benefiting *(regular) or* benefitting
* format - formatting
* outfit - outfitting
* program - programming *or* programing *(regular)*
* retrofit - retrofitting
Decoding the letter S

**IPA consonants**

The letter **S**, lowercase **s** (pronounced /es/) has four pronunciations: /s/ as in *say* or *mouse*, /z/ as in *cousin* or *choose*, /ʃ/ as in *sugar* or *extension* and /ʒ/ as in *pleasure* or *vision*.

## As /s/ or /z/

See main article Pronunciation and decoding exercises: /s/ vs /z/.

See also Pronunciation of the morpheme “-s”.

 Final "se" | goose - dense | cheese - cleanse

### As /s/

* initial /s/:

* same - say - scar - school - sea - sing - sit - sky - sleep - smile - soap - some - song - speak - stay - stop - study - sun - swim

* final /s/:

* bus - gas - this - yes

as morpheme “-s” for words ending in /f/, /k/, /p/, /t/, and /θ/:
* plurals: chiefs - ducks - cups - students - months
* third person singular: laughs - thinks - helps - gets
* possessives: staff's - Mike's - troop's - Egypt's - Edith's

* with "se": dense - goose - house - loose - mouse - promise - release - tense

* in mid-position:

* awesome - basic - nuisance

* homophones: C - sea - see; cell - sell; cent - scent - sent; cite - site - sight; scene - seen;

### As /z/

* with final /z/:

* as - does - has - his - is - was

morpheme “-s”
* plurals: bugs - churches - dens - keys - phones - shoes - toys
* third person singular: comes - drives - gives - knows - tells
* possessives: Alice's - Bob's - Carol's - Dave's - Ethiopia's - Finland's - Germany's

* with "se": advise - browse - cheese - choose - lose - please - these - use - wise

* in mid-position:

* busy - cousin - desert - easy - houses - music - poison - present - president - prison - reason - visit

* homophones: nose - knows; size - sighs

## As /ʃ/

* controversial - dimension - fuchsia /ˈfjuːʃə/ - sugar - sure

See also: Decoding exercises: "sion"

## As /ʒ/

See IPA phoneme /ʒ/ and Decoding exercises: "sion".

## Silent S

* aisle - debris - island
* Arkansas /ˈɑːrkənˌsɔː/- Illinois /ˌɪləˈnɔɪ/

## S in combinations

* "ps": as /s/

psalm - psychology
* "sc"

as /s/: discipline - fascinate - scene - scent - science - scissors
as /ʃ/: conscience - crescendo - fascism
as /sk/: scale - discover - describe - discussion - score - screen
* "sh": as /ʃ/

cash - crash - dish - fashion - flash - push - she - shine - shoe - shop - should - wash
Exceptions, when "s" and "h" are in different syllables
* /sh/: disheartening - mishandle - mishap - mishear
* silent "h": dishonest - dishonor*AmE* - dishonour*BrE*

* "ss": see Decoding exercises: "ss"

## See also

* Advanced decoding exercises: /s/ vs /z/
* Decoding exercises: "ise"
* Decoding exercises: "sion"
* Decoding exercises: "trans"
Pronunciation exercises: \j\ vs \ɪ\ or \iː\

**IPA consonants**

/j/ is a semivowel; in this wiki's broad notation it is always in the same syllable as the following vowel and acts as a consonant.

/ɪ/ and /iː/ are vowels; when they are followed by another vowel they belong to a different syllable. Unstressed /ɪ/ and /iː/, when followed by a vowel, normally are interchangeable. Most people pronounce /iː/ and others pronounce /ɪ/. See also Pronunciation exercises: /ɪ/ vs /iː/ § Unstressed syllable

"Onion" has two syllables /ˈʌn.jən/ and "alien" has three syllables /ˈeɪ.liː.ən/ or /ˈeɪ.lɪ.ən/.

## /j/

* as "i": California, behavior,*AmE* behaviour,*BrE* interview, million, onion, opinion, review, Spaniard, savior,*AmE* saviour,*BrE* view
* as "j": fjord, hallelujah
* /nj/: cognac, lasagna,*AmE* lasagne,*BrE* pinata, piñata
* "u" as /juː/: acc**u**mulate, Cuba, cute, distribute, stimulate
* "ue" as /juː/: argue, continue, value
* "ew" as /juː/: few, Matthew, nephew

## /ɪ/ or /iː/

Some people use /ɪ/ and others use /iː/.

* as "i": anaemia,*BrE* anemia,*AmE* aquarium, associate, audience, bacteria, brill**i**ant, convenience, curious, euphoria, experience, immed**i**ately, mania, material, media, obvious, phobia, previous, serial, serious, schizophrenia, Tanzania, variable, various
* as "e": cereal, erroneous, extraneous, heterogeneous, homogeneous, instantaneous, preoccupation, simultaneous, spontaneous
* as "y": polyamorous, polyandry, polyester

## /iː/

* as "ee": agreeable, foreseeable
* as "e": reapply, rearrange, reinforce, reopen
* as "e-": re-enact, re-enter
* as "i": pizzeria
Decoding exercises: "ur"

The letter combination **"ur"** has several different pronunciations, mainly /ɜːr/ and /ər/. This article sets out some words teachers can use to help their students become more aware of the differences.

For "urr" see Decoding exercises: "urr".

* /ɜː/: burn - burst - church - curve - hurt - nurse - occur - purchase - purpose - return - turn - urge
* /jʊə/: pure - security
* /jʊə,*BrE* ʊə*AmE*/: during
* /ər/: century - culture - feature - future - measure - nature - picture - pressure - structure - surprise
* /jər/: accurate - failure

## Variant pronunciations

* figure /ˈfɪɡər,*BrE* ˈfɪɡjər*AmE*/
* natural /ˈnætʃərəl, ˈnætʃrəl/
* sure /ʃʊər, ʃɔːr*BrE*/ - assurance /əˈʃʊərəns, əˈʃɔːrəns*BrE*/

## See also

* Decoding written words
* Decoding the letter U
* Decoding the letter R
Spelling exercises: final "l" vs "ll"

This page shows words ending in /Vl/, where "V" is a vowel sound and "l" is the phoneme /l/.

In this case the phoneme /l/ may be spelled "ll" or "l". Since all words that end in VVl, where "V" is any vowel letter and "l" is the phoneme /l/, are spelled with one "l" (e.g. "goal") those words won't be considered in this page.

## Common words

All common words ending in one "l" are polysyllabic.

* animal, beautiful, capital, central, control, final, general, hospital, hotel, international, level, local, model, national, natural, normal, personal, political, several, total, travel, until, useful

Most common words ending in "ll" are monosyllabic.

* all, ball, bell, bill, call, cell, fall, fill, full, hall, hell, hill, ill, kill, poll, pull, roll, sell, shall, shell, skill, small, smell, spell, still, tall, tell, till, wall, well, will

A few common words ending in "ll" are polysyllabic. Note that all of the examples can be divided in two (e.g. foot+ball).

* football, fulfill, install, overall, recall

## Less common words

Monosyllabic words ending in a single "l"

* gal, gel, nil, pal

Polysyllabic words ending in Vll, where V is a single vowel letter, and that are not made of two parts (e.g., can't be divided as foot+ball)

* distill*AmE* (British spelling is "distil"), mandrill
Decoding exercises: "oe"

This page sets out words that can help you become more aware of how you can sound out more correctly the different sounds corresponding to words containing "oe".

## Examples

* /əʊ/: Joe - mistletoe - oboe - toe

plurals: does *(female deers),* echoes, embargoes, heroes, mosquitoes, potatoes, tomatoes, torpedoes, vetoes
past tense of verbs: demoed, echoed, embargoed, mamboed, tangoed, torpedoed, vetoed, zeroed
third person of verbs: echoes, embargoes, goes, tangoes, torpedoes, vetoes, zeroes
* /ʌ/: does *(verb)*
* /uː/: canoe, shoe
* /ɜː/: hors d'oeuvre

* "oeu" as /uː/: manoeuvre*BrE* (maneuver*AmE*)

Different syllables
* /əʊ.e/: poetic, whatsoever
* /əʊ.ɪ/: coefficient, hydroelectric
* /əʊ.ə/: poem, poet, poetry
* /əʊ.ɜː/: coerce
* /uː.e/: whoever

These words don't rhyme
* does *(verb)* - goes
* toe - shoe
* manoeuvre /məˈnuːvər/ - hors d'oeuvre /ˌɔːr ˈdɜːrv/

Homophones
* does *(female deer)* - dose; shoe - shoo; toe - tow; toed - toad - towed;

## Graeco-Latin words

Many words with "oe" are of Greek or Latin origin, and some of them are spelled or pronounced differently in British English and American English.
A plus sign is used to remind that there is a shared spelling or pronunciation.

## See also

* American spelling vs. British spelling
* Decoding exercises: "ae"
Regular verb

A **regular verb** is a verb which can be conjugated in a way typical of the language to which it belongs.

## Past tense

In English, the past tense is formed by making the verb finish in "ed", or, in a few cases just "d".

The vast majority of verbs in English are regular, and although there are some 360 irregular verbs in total, only around 90 of these can be considered essential, including some of the most common, everyday verbs.

Examples of regular verbs include **agree** - agree**d**; **ask** - ask**ed**; **carry** - carri**ed**; **like** - lik**ed**; **stop** - stopp**ed**; **work** - work**ed**.

The above examples show the characteristic "ed" or "d" of regular verbs and introduces other idiosyncrasies which affect the spelling, but not the pronunciation, of these verbs.

### Past tense pronunciation

*Main article:* Past tense pronunciation
Regular verbs may pronounce "ed" as /d/ as in played, as /t/ as in laughed or as /ɪd/ as in counted.

### Past tense spelling

*See main article Past tense spelling*
* Most regular verbs just add -**ed** to the infinitive form: moo**ed**; depend**ed**; rain**ed**; play**ed**; start**ed**;
* Regular verbs ending in -**e** just add -**d**: like**d**; receive**d**;
* Regular verbs ending in a stressed vowel + one consonant (except w or y) double the consonant and add -**ed**: refer**red**; stop**ped**;
* Regular verbs ending in consonant + **y** change the **y** to **i** and add -**ed**: carr**ied**; stud**ied**; tr**ied**;
* Regular verbs ending in -**c** add ked: picknic**ked**; traffic**ked**;

**Note**: In British English, the letter "l" is doubled in the past after a short vowel: level**led**; travel**led**

### Variant past tenses

There are some verbs which have two past tenses. In some cases they are regular in American English and irregular in British English, or vice versa.

## Present tense third person

*Main article:* Pronunciation of the morpheme “-s”
Regular verbs add /s/, /z/ or /ɪz/.

The only normal verb (i.e. not an auxiliary verb) that has an irregular third person is "say"; its third person is "says" /sez/. If it were regular it would be pronounced \*/seɪz/.

## Third person and past tense pronunciation

According to their last phoneme regular verbs have 6 alternatives for present third person and past tense.

* third person ends in /s/ and past tense ends in /t/: laughs - laughed; tips - tipped
* third person ends in /s/ and past tense ends in /ɪd/: markets - marketed; wets - wetted
* third person ends in /z/ and past tense ends in /d/: loves - loved; plans - planned
* third person ends in /z/ and past tense ends in /ɪd/: needs - needed; kids - kidded
* third person ends in /ɪz/ and past tense ends in /t/: places - placed;
* third person ends in /ɪz/ and past tense ends in /d/: pauses - paused;

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Englishpage.com, 5.Bet / Betted, Quit / Quitted and Wet / Wetted. The regular form is not as common as the irregular one, but it is heard more often in Britain than in the United States.
2. ↑ Grammarist, Dreamed vs. dreamt
Phonogram

**IPA consonants**

A **phonogram** is groups of one or more letters that generally has one phonetic sound.

## Examples

* "a" often sounds /æ/. See Decoding the letter A.
* "ai" normally sounds /eɪ/. See Decoding exercises: "ai".
* "aw" normally sounds /ɔː/. See Decoding exercises: "aw".
* "ee" normally sounds /iː/. See Decoding exercises: "ee".
* "oo" normally sounds /uː/. See Decoding exercises: "oo".

* "b" normally sounds /b/. See Decoding the letter B.
* "ch" normally sounds /tʃ/. See Decoding exercises: "ch".
* "ck" always sounds /k/. See Decoding the letter K.
* "ph" normally sounds /ʃ/. See Decoding the letter P.
* "sh" normally sounds /ʃ/. See Decoding exercises: "sh".
* "th" sounds /ð/ or /θ/. See Decoding exercises: "th".
* "wr" normally sounds /r/. See Decoding the letter W.

## See also

* Category: Decoding written words
* Digraph
Spelling exercises: "or" vs "our"

Many words that are pronounced /ər/ are spelled with "our" in British English and with "or" in American English. Other words are spelled with "or" under both conventions. If "or" or "our" are stressed, the word is also spelled the same.

## /ər/

* The following words are always spelled with "our" in British English and with "or" in American English.

behaviour - colour - endeavour /ɪnˈdevər/ - favour - favourite - flavour - harbour - honour - honourable - humour *(but* humorist) - labour *(but* laboratory) - neighbour - rigour *(but* rigorous) - rumour - saviour *(someone who rescues)* - tumour - vapour *(but* vaporous) - vigor *(but* vigorous)
* "our",*BrE* *AmE* sometimes "or"*AmE*

glamour - Saviour (Jesus Christ)
* "or",*AmE* *BrE* sometimes "our"*BrE*

Pearl Harbor
* Always "our"

courageous - Endeavour *(space shuttle)* - Labour Party *(or* Labour party) - Labourist *(supporter of the Labour Party)* - Under Armour®
* Always "or"

at the end: actor - author - competitor - director - doctor - editor - error - factor - governor - interior - investor - major - mayor /ˈmeɪər,*AmE* meər*BrE*/ - minor - mirror - monitor - motor - operator - prior - professor - sector - senior - sponsor - Technicolor™ - visitor
not at the end: Colorado - effort - history - humorist - humorous *(but* humour*BrE*) - information - opportunity - rigorous *(but* rigour*BrE*) - vaporous *(but* vapour*BrE*) - vigorous *(but* vigour*BrE*)
## /ɔːr/

Always "our"

* course - court - resource - source

Always "or"

* before - California - divorce - Ecuador - El Salvador - force - form - forward - important - more - morning - Norway - order - Oregon - record *(v.)* - report - short - sort - story - support - York

See also Decoding exercises: "orV" and "orrV"

## /ʌr/ or /ɜːr/

The following words are pronounced with /ʌr/ in British English and /ɜːr/ in American English.

* "our": courage - flourish - nourish
* "or": thorough

Always /ɜː/

* "or": word - work - world - worm - worse - worst - worth
* "our": journalist - journey

## /ʊər/ or /ɔːr/

The following words are pronounced with /ʊər/ or /ɔːr/ in British English and /ʊər/ or /ʊr/ in American English.

* tour, tourism, tourist
* your *(unstressed* /jər/)

## See also

* American spelling vs. British spelling
* Decoding exercises: "ou"
So-called “short o”

The so-called **“short o” sound** is an informal term that means **the short sound of the letter o** which is **IPA phoneme /ɒ/**. In General American /ɒ/ doesn't exist, and “short o” is the phoneme /ɑː/ (see Phoneme \ɑː\ in General American).

Examples

* In all the English speaking world: got, job, lot, collar, topic
* In most accents, excepting General American, the following examples can be added: cloth, lost, offer, song

In General American we can say that these words (which sound /ɔː/) have “short o” spelling.
The term “short o” should only be used when the spelling is actually “o”. It's confusing to say "*watch* is pronounced with short *o*". If this sentence had to be spoken it would be better to say "*watch* is pronounced with the LOT vowel". Alternatively it could be said "*watch* is pronounced like the short sound of the letter o".

Another reason why the terms “long o” and “short o” are not recommended is because the opposition between /ɒ/ (or /ɑː/) and /əʊ/ (“long o”) is not only a difference in length, but mainly a difference in quality.

## “Short o” in combinations

When a combination of *o* and another letter has the sound /ɒ/ it is confusing to say that it has the “short *o*” sound. It is better to say it has the vowel of LOT.

* "ow": knowledge
* "ou": cough\*
* silent e: gone\*

\*: These words are pronounced with /ɔː/ in General American.

## See also

* Decoding the letter O
* Pronunciation exercises: /əʊ/ vs /ɒ/
* So-called “short” and “long” vowels
Asterisk (example of wrong language)

In linguistics a **\*leading asterisk** alerts that what follows is an example of wrong language.

Example:

She is taller than I
\*She is taller then I *(before the sentence)*
She is taller \*then I *(before the word)*
In Merry Harry wrong language is additionally marked with underlining and a hover function.

**\***She is taller then I
She is taller **\***then I
This is implemented with the {{wrong}} template:

{{wrong|She is taller then I}}
She is taller {{wrong|then}} I
Pronunciation exercises: \æ\ vs \e\

Many foreign speakers pronounce /æ/ like /e/. Fortunately they are very easily to tell apart by the spelling.

In North America 58% of people pronounce /ær/ and /er/ identically (see Mary-marry-merry merger).

## /æ/

* act, add, and, ankle, back, bad, band, bank, bat, black, can, carry, fact, family, flat, hand, happen, happy, land, man, match, matter, plan, sad, stand, thank, travel, understand, value, tax, track

## /e/

* accept, best, bet, b**e**tter, correct, desk, egg, else, end, exit, **e**xpect, **e**very, forget, get, help, hotel, jet, leg, lend, let, letter, neck, next, pen, protect, rent, request, second, sell, send, set, spend, suggest, tell, well, wet, when, yell, yes

## Minimal pairs

* bad - bed; bag - beg; band - bend; flash - flesh; gas - guess; had - head; land - lend; latter - letter; laughed*AmE* - left; man - men; mass - mess; sad - said; sand - send; sat - set; taxed - text;
* /ær/ and /er/: marry - merry; parish - perish;