If you want a high band in the IELTS Speaking test, you need good pronunciation. But you don’t need to change your accent. Just pronounce words correctly and make sure the examiner can understand you. The problem for many learners is that English spelling is ‘non-phonetic’, which means that many words aren’t spelled the way they sound. In this post I’m going to present 5 words which are often pronounced incorrectly by IELTS candidates.
1. worked
There are three ways to pronounce the final -ed of regular verbs in the simple past.
After unvoiced sounds such as k, p, f and s, the final -ed is pronounced like t as in the word hot. The -e remains silent. Examples:
worked, picked, fixed, missed, stopped
worked, picked, fixed, missed, stopped
After voiced sounds such as v, g and y, and all vowel sounds, the final -ed is pronounced like d as in the word good. Again, the -e is silent. Examples:
lived, played, mugged, cried, killed
lived, played, mugged, cried, killed
After d and t, the final -ed is pronounced Id as in did.
started, decided, traded, fitted, noted
2. debt
The -b- is silent. Pronounce this work like ‘det’.
3. comfortable
This word has three syllables, not four. The -or- is silent. The correct pronunciation is ‘kʌmfətəbl’.
4. clothes
The final sound is a ‘th’ followed by an ‘s’.
But this is very difficult for many learners. If you have problems with this word, just pronounce it like “close” as in: “Close the door.”
5. answer
The -w- is silent. Pronounce this word like ‘anser’.
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Dear concern,would you please send the rules of pronunciation from A-Z for the welfare our IELTS candidates.