50 commonly mispronounced words in English

Last Updated on 22/05/2026

It’s not a secret English has one of the craziest spelling systems in all European languages. Really, why are words never read like we expect them to?

In this article, you will learn about the most commonly mispronounced words in English and how to improve your pronunciation and listening skills.

Why is it important?

When you mispronounce a word, you can’t recognise it in someone else’s speaking. It means you could be thinking you don’t understand English by ear because your vocabulary is not big enough, but it is not the case.

Your brain should have a correct audio pattern to be able to recognise it. Otherwise, it will just skips the ones that are not familiar, and you will miss this word completely.

What are the most commonly mispronounced words in English?

1. Words with suffixes

Don’t overpronounce the final suffixes and unstressed syllables in long words – they are usually reduced

‘-ous’ (sounds like /es/): various, serious, nervous, obvious, previous, dangerous

‘-tion’ (sounds like /shn/ not /shon/): information, section, decision, population, association, organization, position, commission

‘-ture’ (sounds like /che/): future, feature, creature, moisture, picture

‘-ate’ (sounds like /et/ not /eit/): corporate, desperate, private, separate, adequate

‘-able’ (sounds like /ebl/ not /eible/): questionable, reliable, doable

2. Borrowed Words

– Latin and Greek words have ‘ch’ pronounced like /k/, not /ch/: character, chemistry, architecture, architect, mechanic

– ‘Ph’ is always read /f/, not two separate sound: phone, sphere, nephew, physics, graph

– You will find that in most cases we pronounce ‘au’ letter combination as /ɔː/ not /au/: pause, audience, Austria, Australia, author

3. Combinations of vowels e/i/y/u with ‘r’ in the middle of words

All these words have the same vowel: girl, term, turn, burn, spur, Myrtie, shirt, bird, heard, early, thirsty, skirt, fur, dirty, curse, work

4. Words with silent letters

In some words, some letters are not pronounced at all. Here are some of them: 

honest, hour,

ghost

knife, knot, knee, knitting, knock,

autumn, damn, column,

bomb, numb, climb, lamb, doubt, plumber, debt,

resign, design, foreigner,

guest, guess, colleague, guilty, tongue, biscuit,

almond, palm, calf, half, talk, walk

write, wrap, wrist, wren, wrong

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This could be confusing, but they are absolutely learnable. I recommend working with these rules step by step.

How do you improve your pronunciation?

1. Listen a lot. I know many people study ‘with their eyes’, not their ears. But listening is a huge part of communication. So, you need to train it too.
2. Always check the pronunciation of the word in the dictionaries like Collins or Forvo, not just its meaning.
3. Don’t just read, say it. Always say the words and phrases out loud. If you do it regularly, your speaking, pronunciation, and listening will improve in no time.

Also, I have a guide on words pronunciation. You will find all the most important sound patterns and words you need to remember in English. With audio. It will help a lot to see it all in one place, understand the logics behind it, and practise at your own pace.

If you think, this book is something which could help you, please check it out below.