Short & Sweet Singapore>>

OH BRADDER, WHAT A BOTHER!

The annual Speak Good English movement is here again. Jessica Lim uncovers some common mistakes made by students.

Escape: Many pronounce this as ""excape''. Good news is, if you say ""excape'', you have mastered the prefix ""ex'', which means out or beyond. But the bad news is, ""ex'' has no part to play in ""escape''.

Film: It is often mispronounced as ""fillum'' or ""flim'', both of which are wrong. It is difficult for our tongues to get around the combination of "l'' and ''m'' - but if you know the difference, you can speak it right.

Interpret: Many often make an error with this word, pronouncing it as "interpretate'', influenced by the word "interpretation''. But do not create new words, we already have "interpret''.

Another: This word is many a time lazily pronounced as "nother''. Some also split up the components to say "a nother''. This is a misperception of where to draw the line between different components of a phrase. In this case, there are none.

Utmost: This word means "of the highest degree'' - but it should not be pronounced as "upmost'', and definitely not "outmost''.

Voluptuous: This might be a tricky word for many, but if you are going to use it, pronounce it correctly. You would not want to make a mistake and call someone "volumptuous'' when you mean "voluptuous''.

Brother: This word is often pronounced as "bradder'', which sounds awfully like an organ in your body. The problem for most speakers is making the "th'' sound, which when lacking, makes words sound flat.


Which English words do you or your friends find difficult to pronounce? Spill!