Say It Right

Reading a word card

Each card shows the word, then four things:

1. ✗ Often heard — the way the word is commonly said in India, as a respelling (the syllable in CAPITALS is the stressed one) and in Bengali script.
2. UK — standard British pronunciation. The first line is the IPA used in today’s dictionaries (Oxford, Cambridge). The second line is the older notation found in older Oxford dictionaries and many Indian school dictionaries. The third line is a Bengali-script guide. Press ▶ to hear it.
3. US — the same for General American.
4. A tip, the meaning in English and Bengali, and links to recordings of real speakers (Cambridge Dictionary, YouGlish, Forvo).

In the IPA, ˈ comes before the stressed syllable: /həʊˈtel/ = ho-TEL. In the Bengali guides the stressed syllable is bold and underlined, and the dots separate syllables.

The three frequency levels: Most frequent — everyday words you will say this week; Moderate — common in study and work; Rare but tricky — less common words, borrowed food terms, names of places, people and brands that are easy to get wrong.

Two notations: modern IPA and the older style

Dictionaries changed their symbols over time. Older British dictionaries (Daniel Jones’s English Pronouncing Dictionary, early editions of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, and most Indian school dictionaries) use a simpler set. Today’s dictionaries use the symbols A. C. Gimson introduced in the 1970s. Older American books use the Kenyon & Knott system. The sounds are the same; only the symbols differ. Each card shows both, generated from the same data.

Consonants (same in both)

The Bengali-script guide

Bengali has no letters for several English sounds, so the guide marks them with a dot (নুক্তা): ফ় ভ় থ় দ় জ় ঝ় stand for f v θ ð z ʒ. Untick Sound dots on the Words page to see plain letters. Vowels:

A consonant with হসন্ত (্) at the end of a syllable has no vowel: ক্লাইম্ = klaɪm. A consonant without হসন্ত keeps its অ vowel even at the end of a word: প (pour) = pɔː and ˈআর্-কন্-স (Arkansas) = ˈɑrkənsɔ.

The Bengali guide is only an approximation. Use it together with the audio and the IPA.

Kinds of mistakes

Ten habits that fix most mistakes

1. Weak vowels. Most unstressed syllables shrink to ə (“uh”): chocolate = CHOK-lut, purpose = PUR-pus. Saying every vowel at full length is the clearest sign of an Indian accent.
2. Learn the stress with the word. When you look a word up, note which syllable carries the ˈ.
3. V and W are two sounds. V: teeth on the lip. W: rounded lips, no teeth.
4. Z is not J. zero, zoo, is, was, please, because: a buzzing S.
5. S is not SH. Bengali speakers in particular: sit, seat, salary, single start with a hiss.
6. TH has no puff of air. Put the tongue between the teeth and blow gently: three, think. With voice: this, the, mother.
7. No vowel before S + consonant. school, station, speech, sport, not “is-school”.
8. No vowel between final consonants. film, form, warm, not “fi-lim”.
9. -ed endings: after p, k, f, s, sh, ch it is /t/ (asked = ɑːskt); after t, d it is /ɪd/ (wanted); otherwise /d/ (played). It never adds a syllable except after t or d.
10. Plural and verb -s: after a voiced sound it is /z/ (dogs, goes, plays, is, was).

About the audio

▶ uses your device’s built-in speech engine with a British or an American voice. Most phones and computers have both. If one is missing, the default voice is used and the page tells you. Synthetic voices are good but not perfect, especially for names. The Cambridge, YouGlish and Forvo links on every card lead to recordings of real speakers. The site owner can also add recorded audio files later (see assets/common.js).

Sources and corrections

Pronunciations follow the conventions of the Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries, the Longman Pronunciation Dictionary and Merriam-Webster. Where dictionaries list more than one form, the most common comes first. If you spot an error, please tell the site owner.