Ok, I know, it's been a while since my last update, but here it is -finally.
This time the post is dedicated to intermediate to advanced learners, and it is a pronunciation tip for words, like chocolate, that we normally pronounce wrong. PLEASE (!) DO NOT PRONOUNCE CHO-CO-
LEIT.
First of all NEVER use this kind of
pronunciation guides. They're absolutelly wrong. You don't pronounce "
jaguar you" or "
jaus". I mean, it's not German. Sounds must be much softer and this and there are many sounds whici we can't pronounce in Spanish. This is why I provide
this pronunciation tool, where I list all the phonems of English with examples of words which use the correct pronunciation.
Ok. Now... I don't want to make this too gramatical, but I will mention some grammar rules though. Anyway, I'll try to make this the simpler I can.
WARNING: This is not a rule, and it musn't be listed as such. It is a standard, but there are plenty of exceptions.
Ok, now, just answer to yourself: what is the pronunciation of the word "chocolate"? If your answer is "cho-co-
leit" you are absolutelly........
WRONG!
The deal is very simple.
I will tell you a couple of sounds which I need you to pay a lot of attention to.
This is the sound we use for words like
late, cake, plate, ate (past of eat), play, say, etc. and the other sound is:
which is the sound of words like
it (remember the song -veeery ugly song- "that's the way aha aha I like
it" they don't say I like eat. Another example is Michael Jackson's song "
Beat it" in this song it's very easy to note the difference, it's soft, not stressed. When you stress it, you must make a face like you're smiling.
Beat which uses this sound
is stressed,
it is not. Other examples are
kit, kid, kick, sing, NOT SEE, EAT, KEEP, etc... remember, it must be soft.
Ok, with this basis settled we can start with the explanation.
Chocolate uses the same pronunciation of this sound
in the end. Yes, that's right. It's pronunciation is the same as in the song "Beat IT" not stressed, and not like the action "to eat" in past "ATE". Get it?
The reason is simple: Chocolate is not an action (Verb)
The standard then would be explained as follows:
Actions finishing in
-ate must be pronounced
All other words (descriptions [adjectives or adverbs], names or concepts [nouns]) must be pronounced as
(yes, like the song)
The same happens when you pronounce words like delicate, indicate, dedicate, etc.
She's a very
delicate girl. (Not an action)
I
dedicate this song to you. (Action)
He's a
dedicate father. (Not an action)
I will
indicate the instructions to be followed. (Action)
So: How do you pronounce both of the following lines?
1. Waiter, can you
separate our bills, please?
2. Waiter, can you give us
separate bills, please?
Read you later!
Emmnl Oblong.
