One of the most confusing things about the English language is that there are so many words that have more than one correct pronunciation. There is a lot of debate around some of these words, with some people arguing over the correct pronunciations.
Of course, everyone wants to pronounce words correctly, but certain words have more than one correct pronunciation. Here is a list of 25 words that can be pronounced differently.
List of Words that Can Be Pronounced Differently
1. Almond
This word has three correct pronunciations: “ALL-mund” – the “L” is pronounced and “al” sounds like the word “all”, “AH-mund” – the “L” is not pronounced, and “a” sounds like the “a” in father, and “AW-mund” – the “L” is not pronounced and “a” sounds like “aw” in the word awesome.
2. Apricot
This word has two correct pronunciations: “APP-ri-caht” – the first syllable rhymes with “map” and “APE”-ri-caht- first syllable rhymes with “cape.”
3. Aunt
This word can be pronounced like “ant” – sounds like the insect or “ahnt” – rhymes with “want.”
4. Broom
This word has two correct pronunciations: /brum/ – The “oo” sounds like the vowel in “food” and /brʊm/ – The “oo” sounds like the vowel in “foot.”
5. Caramel
You can either pronounce it like “CARE-uh-mel” – 3 syllables, the first syllable sounds like “care” or “CAR-mel” – 2 syllables, first syllable sounds like “car.”
6. Cauliflower
You can pronounce it like “COLL-ih-flower” – The “i” sounds like “ih” in “bit” or “COLL-ee-flower” – The “i” sounds like “ee” in “bee.”
7. Crayon
This word can be pronounced like “CRAY-on”- 2 syllables – rhymes with “rayon”, “cran” – 1 syllable – rhymes with “ban”, “CRAY-awn” – 2 syllables – last syllable rhymes with “pawn.”
8. Cot/Caught
The two words sound the same. The vowel in both “cot” and “caught” sound like the “a” in father. But also the two words sound different. The vowel in “cot” sounds like the “a” in father and the vowel in “caught” sounds like “aw” in “awesome.”
9. Coupon
This word has two correct pronunciations: “KOO-pon” – first syllable rhymes with “too” and “KYOO-pon” – first syllable sounds like “queue.”
10. Data
This word can be pronounced like “day-tuh” – the first syllable sounds like “day” or “da-tuh” – the first syllable has the “a” sound like in cat.
11. Don/Dawn
The two words sound different. The vowel in “don” sounds like the “a” in father and the vowel in “dawn” sounds like “aw” in “awesome.” But they also sound the same. The vowel in both “don” and “dawn” sounds like the “a” in father.
12. Either
You can either pronounce it like “EE-ther” – first syllable rhymes with “bee” or “AYE-ther” – the first syllable rhymes with “hi.”
13. Horrible
There are two ways to pronounce this word correctly: “HOR-uh-bul” – first syllable rhymes with “more” and “HAR-uh-bul” – first syllable rhymes with “car.”
14. Lawyer
The two correct pronunciations for this word are: “LAW-yer” – first syllable rhymes with “saw” and “LOY-er” – the first syllable rhymes with “boy.”
15. Neither
There are two correct ways to pronounce this word: “NEE-ther” – first syllable rhymes with “bee” and “NAI-ther” – first syllable rhymes with “hi.”
16. Pajamas
This word can be pronounced like “jam” rhymes with “Tom” or “jam” sounds like the fruit spread “jam.”
17. Pecan
This word has three correct pronunciations: PEE-can – sounds like a tin full of small round vegetables- “pea can”, “pick-AHN” – sounds like “pick Ron” minus the /r/, and “pee-KAHN” – rhymes with “see Ron.”
18. Poem
The two correct pronunciations are: “po-em” – two syllables – “po” rhymes with “go” and “em” rhymes with “them” and “pome” – one syllable – rhymes with “home.”
19. Quarter
You can pronounce it like “kor-ter” – starts with /k/ sound, no /w/ or “kwor-ter” – starts with /kw/ sound.
20. Roof
This word can be pronounced in two correct ways: /ruf/ – The “oo” sounds like the vowel in “food” and /rʊf/ – The “oo” sounds like the vowel in “foot.”
21. Room
There are two correct ways to pronounce this word: /rum/ – The “oo” sounds like the vowel in “food” and /rʊm/ – The “oo” sounds like the vowel in “foot.”
22. Root
The two correct ways to pronounce this word include /rut/ – The “oo” sounds like the vowel in “food” and /rʊt/ – The “oo” sounds like the vowel in “foot.”
23. Route
You can pronounce this word like /rut/ – The vowel sounds like the vowel in “food” or /raʊt/ – The “ou” sounds like the vowel in “house.”
24. Syrup
This word can be pronounced like “SIR-up” – First half of word sounds like “sir” which rhymes with “burr” “SIHR-up” or “SEAR-up.”
25. Thanksgiving
There are two correct ways to pronounce this word: “thanks-GIV-ing” – stress on the second syllable and “THANKS-giv-ing” – stress on the first syllable.
What Are the 15 Most Mispronounced Words?
1. Aisle
Wrong pronunciation: ai-suhl / ei-suhl
Correct pronunciation: ile
2. Archive
Wrong pronunciation: aa-keev / aa-cheev
Correct pronunciation: AA-kive
3. Athlete
Wrong pronunciation: eh-tuh-leet / eh-tleet
Correct pronunciation: ATH-leet
4. Calendar
Wrong pronunciation: kuh-len-duh
Correct pronunciation: KA-luhn-duh
5. Colonel
Wrong pronunciation: kuh-luh-nuhl / koh-loh-nuhl
Correct pronunciation: KUH-nuhl
6. Congrats
Wrong pronunciation: con-grates
Correct pronunciation: KUHN-grats
7. Cupboard
Wrong pronunciation: cuhp-bohrd
Correct pronunciation: KUH-buhd
8. Debris
Wrong pronunciation: deh-brees / duh-brees
Correct pronunciation: DEI-bree
9. Debut
Wrong pronunciation: dee-buht / dei-butt / duh-buht
Correct pronunciation: DEI-byoo
10. Epitome
Wrong pronunciation: eh-pi-tohme
Correct pronunciation: uh-PI-tuh-mee
11. Forte
Wrong pronunciation: forth
Correct pronunciation: FOR-tei
12. Gauge
Wrong pronunciation: gowj
Correct pronunciation: geij
13. Genre
Wrong pronunciation: jen-ruh / jen-rei
Correct pronunciation: ZHON-ruh
14. Honour
Wrong pronunciation: hoh-nuhr / hoh-nuh
Correct pronunciation: O-nuh
15. Invitation
Wrong pronunciation: in-vie-tei-shun
Correct pronunciation: in-vuh-TEI-shun
What Are the Hardest Words to Pronounce?
- Anathema – the many As in this word make it difficult it difficult to pronounce. It is pronounced like / uh-nath-uh-muh
- Anemone – the first two syllables in this word make it difficult to pronounce. It is pronounced as / uh-nem-uh-nee.
- Antarctic – the double Cs cause real trouble when pronouncing this word. Its correct pronunciation is / ant-ahrk-tik.
- Antidisestablishmentarianism – this is one of the longest words in English and a perfect tongue-twister. Its correct pronunciation is / an-tee-dis-uh-stab-lish-muh n-tai-ee-uh-niz-uh-m.
- Asterisk – the metathesis in this word makes it hard to pronounce. It is pronounced like / as-tuh-risk.
- Brewery – its middle syllable is quite tricky to pronounce. This word is pronounced like / broo-uh-ree.
- Cavalry – this word contains a metathesis that makes it difficult to pronounce. Its actual pronunciation is / kav-uh l-ree.
- Comfortable – the “tuh” in this word can easily be skipped, but that makes the word difficult to pronounce. It should be pronounced like / kuhm-fer-tuh-buh l.
- Defibrillator – the dissimilation in this word spells real trouble when pronouncing it. The correct pronunciation is / dee-fib-ruh-ley-ter.
- Deteriorate – the first R in this word gets the same treatment as the second one, making the word difficult to pronounce. Its correct pronunciation is / dih-teer-ee-uh-reyt.
