Words Spanish speakers mispronounce

Spanish and English have different pronunciation rules. If your native language is Spanish, you might have a hard time saying these English words correctly. Let's practice some important words to help you sound more like a native speaker.

Words starting with S

Spanish speakers often add an E sound to words that start with S. For example, you might say eh-special instead of special. In English, we don't add the E sound. Practice the English S sound with these words:

• Special — speh shul

• Simple — sim pul

• Sorry — sar ree

• Solid — sawl lid

Words with OUGH sounds

This is one of the most confusing spelling patterns in English. The letters OUGH can make many different sounds depending on the word. Let's practice the most common examples:

• Thorough — ther oe

• Cough — cawf

• Bought — bawt

• Rough — ruf

• Thought — thawt

• Although — all thoe

Words ending with -ain

In English, words ending with -ain sometimes sound like in. Other times they sound like n, like the beginning of the word no. Here are some examples.

• Mountain — mown tin

• Fountain — fown tin

• Villain — vil in

• Curtain — kert n

• Certain — sert n

English is weird

English has weird pronunciation rules. And sometimes, we break the rules! 

Don't worry if you're confused. You don't have to memorize all these pronunciation rules. Instead, you can learn them naturally through Comprehensible Input. 

To practice your pronunciation skills, watch English content with English subtitles. This will let you read the words and hear the correct pronunciation at the same time.