Top 10 Important Pronunciation Rules to Improve English Speaking
What do the terms “gnash”, “squirrel” and “thorough” have in common?
These are some of the difficult English terms to pronounce for both native speakers and people who have just started learning English.
English are well known for its fairly difficult pronunciation rules. While some principles are obvious and are spoken as you would expect, others require memorization and practice.
Enroll in one of the spoken English course to learn more about pronunciation from experienced and qualified teachers.
Here are 10 important pronunciation rules that help you improve tricky English words perfectly. However, you can also learn 8 Tips to Improve English Pronunciation and Correct Your Accent.
What Are the Basic Pronunciation Rules to Boost Your Spoken English?
Rule 1#: Short word, short vowel
Short and long vowel sounds are two frequent categories for vowel sounds. There are certain principles for determining whether a vowel sound is short or long, although they may appear difficult. Short words always have short vowels. You can learn this rule in-depth in a spoken English courses with an explanation.
Rule 2#: The combination of two vowels makes a long vowel.
In English, two vowels next to each other are not unusual, but with this easy approach, you can learn them.
Specifically, they usually produce the long sound of the first vowel when two different vowels are placed next to one another. For instance, the word “meat” has a long e sound, while the words “simple” and “goat” have long a and o sounds, respectively.
Rule 3#: Keep vowels brief before double consonants
There are guidelines for how to pronounce double consonants as well as rules for how to pronounce the vowel that comes before them.
The simple rule is that a vowel should always be pronounced in its short form before a double consonant. Let’s examine the distinction in pronunciation between the terms “diner” and “dinner” to see this.
The only one n in the word “diner” is pronounced as a long vowel, as is the i. On the other hand, because of the double n in the word “dinner”, i is pronounced as a short vowel
Rule 4#: Pronounce double consonant TT as D
In standard American English, one double consonant is not pronounced like its singular counterpart. In reality, the double consonant TT is shortened to a sound like a d.
The pronunciation of the words “small” and “letter” demonstrates this.
Rule 5#: E at the end of the word is silent
If an English word ends in an e, it might occasionally be confusing. The e is essentially silent, despite the desire of many students to include it in the pronunciation.
Instead, the e lengthens the vowel before it, as in “ate”, “bite”, or rope.”
Rule 6#: Pronounce the word ending TION with an SH sound
You will find it tricky to pronounce the word ending with tion because of two facts.
The first fact is that the t is not at all pronounced like a t. Instead, you need to pronounce it like a sh sound just like in the word “shoe”. The last vowels are then changed to a schwa.
The tion at the end of the word is ultimately pronounced more like the word “shun” as a whole. This gives rise to words like “tradition”, “situation” and “position” that feature the sh sound followed by constricted schwl vowels
Rule 7#: G and K before letter N are silent at the beginning
English has various rules that, unlike many other languages, allow consonants to be silent in specific circumstances. Many people get confused with the silent letter and pronounce the words incorrectly. So, most of them prefer to learn spoken English courses for improving English Pronunciation Like a Native.
One of these principles is that a word’s initial letter k or g is not pronounced when it is followed by the letter n. Instead, it almost seems as though the word began with the letter n. Words like “knee,” “knock,” and “gnarl” illustrate this.
Rule 8#: Pronounce S like Z between two vowels
An s is pronounced like a z when it is between two vowel sounds. Words like “phase”, “music”, and “please” arises from this.
This rule has a few exceptions, such as the terms “goods” and “chase”.
Rule 9#: Pronounce X like Z at the start of a word
There is still another method to pronounce X.
Rarely, it can sound like the Z in terms like “xylophone” or “xenophobia”. With the exception of the word “x-ray,” this pronunciation nearly always occurs at the start of a word. If you are still confused about this rule and want to learn in detail enrolling in a spoken English course would be a better option.
Rule 10#: Unstressed vowels create a “schwa” sound
The sound “schwa” may appear to be a sophisticated English sound, but it’s not. In reality, by holding the jaw slightly open, relaxing the tongue, and producing a brief sound, it is the sound that our mouths can produce the most easily. It closely resembles the English short u sound.
The “schwa” is interesting since it can affect almost any vowel. A vowel reduces to this sound when it is unstressed in a word. You can see this in words like “panda”, “mitten”, “bikini”, “citrus”, and “freedom”.
Conclusion
Now you have known these important pronunciation rules, you need not worry about strange English pronunciation. You can improve your English speaking and communicate well with anybody you meet by knowing these basic rules. If you want to learn more pronunciation rules like this, you may join any best spoken English classes online where you can also improve your pronunciation and basic spoken English grammar.
Original Article Published on: fastinfoclass.bcz.com
