English 112Prof. Myrna Monllor

English 112

Why is correct pronunciation important?

• Increases your self-confidence• Makes what you say understandable.• Makes you sound more natural, like a native

speaker.

Rhythm

• Words in English have stressed and unstressedsyllables.

ImproveMistakes

• Sentences in English also have stressed and unstressed words.

Strong Words (Stressed)

• Nouns• Main Verbs• Adjectives• Adverbs• Negatives (don’t, didn’t…)When you speak English, emphasize the strongwords.

Weak Words (Unstressed)

• Pronouns• Forms of the verb TO BE• Prepositions/Articles• Auxiliary verbs• Conjunctions

100 Most Basic English Wordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_common_words_in_English

• The 26 letters of the alphabet do not represent all the sounds in English.

The letter a for example has 5 sounds.• View the following video to listen to the

pronunciation of the sounds of English

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPsz6QVZeVE

1 Pronouncing Regular Verbs in the Past Tense

Base Form ends in t or d sound

• Accepted• Attended• Stated• Communicated• Divided• Credited• Investigated• Shouted

• Greeted• Added• Defeated• Subtracted• Quoted• Suggested

Words with /ed/ sound

Base form ends in gh. f, c, k, g, s, ch, sh, p

• Thanked• Acomplished• Changed• Cooked• Matched

• Laughed• Exchanged• Washed• Talked• Mopped• Worked

Words with /t/ sound

Any other sound

• Achieved• Learned• Sponsored• Dined• Answered• Argued• Listened

• Agreed• Studied• Earned• Called• Arrived• Cried

Words with /d/ sound

Sentences in the Past• She accepted his invitation.• We looked for the book.• They argued all the time.• We exchanged the airplane tickets.• We divided the cake into equal parts.• We thanked him for the gift.• Universidad del Sagrado Corazón sponsored the T.V.

program.• The nurses assisted the doctor.

Sentences in the Past• The businessman attended the meeting.• We danced all night.• She answered the phone.• They communicated through their cell phones.• We apologized for our lateness.• She cooked for her family.• He shaved every morning.• The couple dined at a nice restaurant.• We listened to the radi0 program.

Sentences in the Past• She sneezed loudly. • She agreed to visit me.• Yesterday he washed the car.• Their clothes matched.• They studied a lot.• He earned a lot of money this year.• We called him this morning.• We talked to our friends. • We changed our clothes.

Th sound

/Th/ initial position

• think• thing• thief• thigh• Thought• three• through• throughout

• threat thirst• threaten thirsty• thriller thorough• thrilling thoroughly• throw theology• throne theory• thirtytherapy• thin therapist

Final/central Position

• tooth• teeth• truth• south• north• fifth• sixth• seventh

• ethic enthusiasm• ethical enthusiastic• synthesis birth• synthetic month• eleventh monthly• philanthropist• philanthropy• photosynthesis

/f/gh final position

• tough• rough• laugh• laughing• laughed• cough• enough

Exception though, even though, although

/t/ght

• Taught• Thought• Bought• Brought• Caught• Fought• Fight• tight

Pronunciation Exercise

• Was the thief caught by the police?• Did the therapist laugh at you?• Life in a violent environment is tough.• Experts believe access to pornography affects

people’s behavior.• Even though he got a good grade, he didn’t

study much.

Pronunciation Exercise

• The therapist taught us how to exercise correctly.

• I studied philosophy in the eleventh grade.• Ricky Martin is a philanthropist.• Different ethnic groups live in Brazil.• The philosopher explained the ethical issues

related to abortion.

Pronunciation Exercise

• My birthday is in July, a summer month.• I lost my first tooth in the fourth grade.• His enthusiasm surprised me.• The thief was brought to the police station in

the South Bronx.

Troublesome Words

Online Sources for Pronunciation

• http://howjsay.com