Some Mispronounced words

Some Mispronounced words

In English we do not have a system of accenting our vowels. This can lead to problems when pronouncing words.

Here are some words that are commonly mispronounced:

Utmost – mispronounced as – Upmost

Wasn’t – mispronounced as – wadn’t

Yolk – mispronounced as – yoke

Suite – mispronounced as – suit

Nuclear – mispronounced as – nuclar

Close – mispronounced as – clothes

Be careful when learning new words! Its good to learn English with a professional native speaking teacher. You can do that with Smart Language Solutions

Learn English on line at www.SmartLanguageSolutions.com

Slang Word – Dohment

Dohment is the moment you realise you did something stupid in the past.
“Oh my, I just realised I booked my flight for the wrong day, I will have to rebook”

In standard English a dohment, can also be called the moment when something “dawns on you” or when “the penny drops”.

Dohment is a combination of the words Doh and moment.
Doh is the phrase used by the cartoon character “Homer Simpson” when he makes a mistake.

Be careful when using slang, if you are not sure, don’t use it.
Take lessons with professional native English speaking teachers at Smart Language Solutions.

www.SmartLanguageSolutions.com

Phrasal Verb – Name After

This phrasal verb describes when a child is given the same name of someone in their family or some other famous person, even songs!

“My name is George, I was named after my father who is also called George.”

“My name is Nikita, I was named after that Elton John song from the 80’s, I’m a girl and my parents didn’t know Nikita was a boys name!”

Its very important to learn English correctly! The best way is with a professional native English speaker.
Learn English online with Smart Language Solutions.

www.SmartLanguageSolutions.com

Question Tags

In English when we want to continue a conversation we can put a question tag at the end of a sentence.
The purpose of the question tag is to invite the person who we are talking to reply to us.
“You agree with me, don’t you?”

Question tags are easy to construct, if the base sentence is positive, then the question tag is negative and if the base sentence is negative then the question tag is positive.

We construct the question tag using the auxiliary verb from the base sentence and invert it:

It isn’t a nice day, is it?
You have my pen, haven’t you?

If there is no auxiliary verb in the base sentence then use do/does/did:
The school closes at 5PM, doesn’t it?
You eat meat, don’t you?

Remember when learning English, it’s very important to take lessons with a professional native speaker teacher.
Join us online to learn English in small groups or one to one with Smart Language Solutions.

www.SmartLanguageSolutions.com

Countable and Uncountable Nouns

In English we class our nouns into countable and uncountable.

Countable nouns are nouns we can physically count:
5 Apples
2 People
7 Books

Uncountable Nouns are nouns we can’t physically count:
Water
Electricity
Rice

Money is an uncountable noun!

Some and Any

We use some in positive sentences with uncountable and plural nouns:
There is some water in the pool
There are some apples in the kitchen


We also use some when we ask for and offer things:
Can I have some rice please?
Would you like some books to take home?

We use any in questions and negative sentences with uncountable and plural nouns:
Is there any electricity in the house?
There aren’t any people at the party.


How much/many

We use how much with uncountable nouns:
How much rice is in the pot?

We use how many with countable nouns:
How many people were at the party?

Learn more English as a foreign language at smart language solutions
www.smartlanguagesolutions.com

IELTS Listening section

If you are taking the IELTS, the first task of the day is the 30 minute listening test.

There are four parts to the listening test.

Part One: this will be a conversation between two people, the theme of the conversation will either be a social or semi official format.

Part Two: this will be a talk by a single speaker and it will be a non academic situation.

Part Three: this will be a conversation between a number of people, the theme will be academic or course related.

Part Four: this will be a university type lecture.

Before the recordings you will have a chance to see the ten questions for each recording, each recording is then played one time only.

So the key to passing the listening test is:

Read the questions and understand them.
As you listen to the recording make notes on the answer sheet about each question.
Then take the full ten minutes after the listening to transfer your notes onto the answer sheet!

As practice try listening to UK, US, and Irish talk radio online, these are great sources to “tune” your ear to native speakers.

Here are some stations:

BBC: http://bit.ly/jyJte
RTE: http://bit.ly/hjEQN
Newstalk: http://bit.ly/GaMAt
Air America: http://bit.ly/2WIK2
KUDO: http://bit.ly/hDX48

Of course its very important to work with a professional English teacher who will support you in your learning.
That’s why we suggest you contact us at www.smartlanguagesolutions.com and we will support you in your learning.

Pronouncing Regular Past Tense Verbs

To review, we all know that to form the written regular past tense we must do the following.

If the verb ends in “e” add “d”
Live = Lived

If the verb ends in a consonant + “y” change the “y” to “i” and then add “ed”
Cry = Cried

If the verbs ends in a vowel and a consonant (except) “w” or “y”) then double the consonant and add “ed”
Stop = Stopped

For all other ending add “ed”
Fill = Filled

However, the sound made when we pronounce the regular past tense is not just “d”.
A lot of English learners don’t realise that there are three distinct sounds used in English for regular past tense verbs, and they are “d”, “id” and “t”.

Listened has the “d” sound at the end

Boasted has the “id” sound at the end

Laughed has the “t” sound at the end

To find out which regular past tense verbs have which sound at the end is best done by learning English with a professional native speaker English teacher!

Learn more English for free at www.smartlanguagesolutions.com and click free stuff!