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You’ve heard of silent letters in English but what about

silent syllables?

I’m Emma from mmmEnglish and today we’re going to

practise natural English pronunciation.

I’ve got a heap of really common

everyday English words that you

might be pronouncing a little awkwardly.

So we’re going to practise the pronunciation of

individual words but we’ll also practise these words

in longer sentences, so we can focus on your speaking

fluency as well.

So get ready, we’re about to dive in!

So we’re talking about syllables today

and just in case you’re a little unsure about what that

means, this is a unit of pronunciation, it includes

a vowel sound and often has some surrounding

consonant sounds like cat has one syllable.

Healthy has two syllables.

Enormous has three syllables and so on

but what am I talking about silent syllables for?

Let me give you an example of one of the words

that I’m talking about.

How many syllables does it have?

You might have said three and I

can’t blame you for that at all, it looks like

there should be three, right?

But when spoken naturally, native speakers usually

reduce the pronunciation of this word

down to just two syllables.

Natural.

And it’s the same with naturally.

Most of my students will pronounce naturally

with four syllables right but when a native speaker

says this word out loud, usually you’ll only hear

three syllables, naturally.

So I can already hear you asking

“Emma does this mean that every native speaker

always says ‘naturally’ with three syllables?”

No

but usually we do because it’s easier to pronounce

fewer syllables and it helps us to speak more quickly

so this happens quite a lot.

But the problem is that until you hear a native speaker

say this word,

you can’t possibly know about the different

types of pronunciation, the spelling doesn’t change.

Even if you do hear a native speaker pronounce

all of the syllables,

the silent ones that we’re talking about today are always

a reduced syllable, they’re very soft,

they’re very hard to hear

even when spoken naturally.

So if you want to work on your English accent

and sound more relaxed and more natural

when you speak English

then this video is definitely one to keep watching.

All of the words that I’m sharing today are very, very

common words, ones that you are already using

all the time so make sure that you are able to practise

out loud with me. This is a pronunciation lesson

so I expect you

to be saying these words and these sentences

out loud as we go through them.

Every.

Not

Just two syllables.

So you use this pronunciation every time okay?

Once you get the pronunciation down to two syllables,

it’s going to help you to pronounce so many words.

Everyone. Everywhere.

Everything.

Everyday.

Every.

Business.

Now it really does look like there should be

three syllables there right but it’s not. It’s not

but business.

It’s confusing I know. In fact, when I’m trying to

write or type this word out, in my head,

I still think

to make sure that I get the spelling right and that is after

over thirty years of using English

as a native English speaker.

So I don’t blame you for being a little confused

by this language.

It’s business.

Interest.

Not

Just two syllables.

Interest.

Chocolate.

All my Filipinas out there this one is for you,

not

but

So that last syllable is also really short, both

vowel sounds in these syllables are really short.

Chocolate.

Aspirin.

So this is another example where it really looks like

there should be three syllables right.

It’s just two. Aspirin.

So it’s always pronounced this way. Aspirin.

Wednesday.

I mean

I know this one really does seem like you should be

pronouncing three syllables.

It’s very clear.

But no.

We’ve got two syllables there

and that D is a silent letter

so there’s a lot going on here right?

Wednesday.

Comfortable.

So it’s not

but just

comfortable.

And although you may hear the odd

native speaker saying

perhaps in the U.S, it’s not very common.

Most native speakers will just reduce it down

and it’s the same with this one.

Vegetable.

Not

Just three syllables. Vegetable.

Can I order the vegetable pizza?

Different

not

Just two syllables.

If I were you, I would choose a different colour.

Temperature.

So it’s not

What temperature will it be tomorrow?

Politically.

Now adverbs like this that end in -ally

can be a little tricky because they don’t

all follow the same rules

but politically has only four syllables. It’s not

Just

Four syllables.

Politically.

His decision was politically motivated.

Practically.

Another very common adverb so it’s not

It’s just three syllables.

Practically.

I’ve practically finished already!

Now before we move on, let’s practise

using some of those words in sentences out loud.

So you’ll see the sentence come up on the screen.

Don’t worry, I’m going to highlight the words

that you need to pay attention to

and I want you to first read it out loud yourself,

then you’ll hear me say it so I want you to listen,

then repeat again after me. Are you ready?

On Wednesday, I’m cooking roast

chicken with vegetables.

Can you bring your chocolate cake for dessert?

I’m interested in every business

and I’m comfortable speaking to everyone.

I practically melted, the temperature was so high!

I wish we visited at a different time of year.

So now we’re moving into a bit of a grey area.

All of the words from now on in the lesson have

two accepted pronunciations

so if you are using that extra syllable,

you’re not wrong.

But most native speakers will use the shorter version

because it’s easier and it allows us to speak quickly.

Most of my students though will use the longer version

because having the extra syllable in there

gives them a little bit of extra space when they’re

when they’re speaking - a little bit of extra time.

But let’s try and simplify the sounds a little,

the sounds that you’re making when you say these

words and try and make it a little bit more efficient.

Family.

It’s a pretty basic word, right?

Probably one of the first ones that you learned.

I wonder how you’ve been pronouncing it all this time.

Have you added that extra syllable or are you just

using two?

You will sometimes hear native speakers pronouncing

family with a little schwa syllable in there.

Family.

Sometimes I say it like this too so it’s not wrong.

But most of the time,

native speakers will reduce it down to just

two syllables because it’s more efficient. It’s simple.

Most of my family lives in Melbourne.

Now what’s awesome is that you can see

in the phonemic script that the extra schwa sound

is in brackets right which means it’s an

optional syllable. So if you use the extra syllable,

it is a reduced vowel sound,

an unstressed sound that’s low in pitch.

But you can drop it completely and when we speak

quickly, we do.

So the syllable becomes silent.

It’s like it doesn’t exist at all.

Keep an eye out for that schwa symbol in brackets.

You’ll see it in many of the words that come up

on the screen now.

You’ll also be able to keep an eye out for it

in dictionaries as you’re looking up new words

like this one.

Listening.

So it’s perfectly okay to use three syllables.

Listening.

But to make things quick and simple,

native speakers will often reduce it down to just

two syllables.

It’s the same with travelling.

So you’ll hear

travelling with that extra schwa sound in the middle.

Travelling.

But to make it more efficient, to speak quickly,

reduce it down, cut it out.

I was listening to his story

about travelling across Australia.

Literally.

or literally.

So it’s really common to hear

both of these pronunciations by native speakers.

Literally with four syllables

and literally with three.

So it’s more common to hear the four-syllable version

in American English and that’s to do with

specific pronunciation features in that accent.

So you’ll hear literally

with that flap T sound right? It sounds more like a D.

Very short vowel sounds. Literally.

In the UK, it’s more common to hear the

three-syllable version.

And that’s because of that more pronounced

T sound right? That’s a feature of their accent.

Literally.

And here in Australia, we literally use both versions.

Literally!

Because we also use the flap T too.

So you can take your pick here.

Actually.

So you’ll hear actually

with four syllables

but actually is way easier with three right,

as long as you can make that CH sound easily.

If it’s a little tricky for you, you might prefer

to keep four syllables.

Actually.

Actually, I was in Melbourne last year.

Favourite.

So instead of

It’s easier, it’s faster

to use two syllables so why would you use three?

Memory.

So like favourite,

both types of pronunciation are common.

Memory

with that little extra schwa syllable in the middle.

Memory or memory.

What’s your favourite memory from childhood?

Camera.

So this is another favourite word

for native English speakers to shorten.

Camera.

Two syllables only. Many of my students will say

but

camera is definitely much more natural.

Camera.

Restaurant.

So this word is very commonly pronounced with four

or even five syllables in other languages.

French, Spanish,

Italian, German,

even Japanese.

But in English, you will hear native speakers

reduce that down to just two.

Restaurant.

which is very quick and easy right

unless you have trouble with that STR consonant sound

like in street and struggle,

it can be tricky to have so many consonants together so

if you find that a little tricky,

stick with restaurant.

Try this one with me.

I think they allow cameras in the restaurant

but you can’t take them into the show afterwards.

Average.

If you’re a native English speaker

and you use the three-syllable version,

please let me know about it in the comments

and tell me where you’re from

because it sounds so odd to me to hear average.

I’m sure there must be somewhere where they

pronounce it that way.

Much more common to hear average, two syllables only.

Average.

Miserable.

So it looks like there should be four syllables,

but we just shorten it to miserable.

This miserable weather is average for this time of year!

Conference.

So again, if this word is similar in your native language,

you might be used to pronouncing that extra

syllable in there.

The little schwa.

But in naturally spoken English, conference

is much, much more common.

Conference.

Several.

So you might hear

again with a little schwa syllable in there.

Several.

This is a really handy word actually,

it’s used to refer to an

imprecise number, not an exact number of things

or of people so it’s not a really large amount but it is

greater than two so if

you don’t want to be specific, it’s a great word to know.

But it’s very natural to just use several instead.

There are several international speakers

speaking at the conference.

Separate.

Now this one is a little tricky because there is a clear

pronunciation difference between the verb separate

and the adjective separate.

I go into that in much more detail in this lesson up

here, the pronunciation between the verb

and the adjective so check it out later if you want to.

But you may hear a difference in the

pronunciation of the adjective form,

separate or separate.

Separate.

Very very slight.

Catholic.

This one’s tricky because of that TH sound right.

You might find it easier to keep that extra schwa sound,

that extra syllable in there

between the TH and the L consonant sound.

So this one I understand if you

having a little bit of trouble with it but you’ll hear

Catholic

three syllables

or Catholic.

Shorten it right down to just two.

There are several buildings constructed

by the catholic church in the fifteenth century.

Now it can be a little tricky to realise if you’re

pronouncing these words one way or the

other so what I encourage you to do

is to check the description box down below,

I’ve added all of these words so that you can

make your own recording of yourself

reading them aloud

in that order.

Then you’ll be able to compare them to the way

that I’m pronouncing them in this video.

So I’m going to read them out loud one more time,

one at a time so that you can listen back

to your recording and compare it to mine

alright? So this is your homework task.

Natural.

Every.

Business.

Interest.

Chocolate.

Aspirin.

Wednesday.

Comfortable.

Vegetable.

Different.

Temperature.

Politically.

Practically.

Family.

Listening.

Travelling.

Literally.

Actually.

Favourite.

Memory.

Camera.

Restaurant.

Average.

Miserable.

Conference.

Several.

Separate.

Catholic.

As I said at the start of this video, pronouncing the

extra syllable in all of these words

is no big deal at all.

You’ll still be understood

and of course, that’s the most important aspect

of communicating in English, right?

This lesson was really about helping you

to be more efficient with your language,

to help you speed up,

sound more natural and relaxed as you speak.

I’ll see you in there!