Why English Pronunciation is Difficult
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hi everybody welcome back to ask Alisha
the weekly series where you ask me
questions and I answer them baby first
question this week comes from Luigi hi
Luigi Luigi said hi Alicia how do you
pronounce the word comfortable in
American English I’ve always pronounced
it with four syllables but a few months
ago I started noticing everyone I know
says that in the three syllable way is
there a right or wrong way or is it just
a matter of personal preference yeah we
usually say it with three syllables like
you’ve described comfortable comfortable
that’s kind of easier to say than
comfortable in quick everyday speech so
it’s kind of rare to hear people say
comfortable so for that reason I would
recommend you also try to use
comfortable comfortable instead if for
some reason you want to sound really
clear and maybe formal perhaps polite
you might use the full comfortable but
in most cases you don’t need to do that
so yes to answer your question it is
kind of a matter of personal preference
in that it’s just easier for us to say
it in the three syllable way so I hope
that this helps you thanks very much for
the question okay let’s move on to your
next question next question comes from
Ariadna hi Arianna Arianna says hi
Alicia I want to know the difference
between commendable and admirable okay
commendable the route of commendable is
commend so to commend is to give like
public attention to something because it
is good so you’ll see this used for like
someone who has done something really
really honorable you’ll see it used in
like military situations or maybe in
like big like academic institutions like
fancy universities famous universities
so it’s for things that deserve some
kind of public attention we would
describe that as commendable so it’s a
really good behavior a really good
positive action
something that someone decides deserves
public notice your community service is
commendable her hard work is commendable
admirable on the other hand is used for
something again like commendable used
for like maybe good deeds we can
describe a good deed or a good action as
admirable however we don’t necessarily
make the point of saying it’s something
we should announce publicly we don’t
really say that we can describe a person
as admirable he’s an admirable person
she’s an admirable person we can also
talk about a behavior as admirable like
oh that was a really admirable thing you
did so admirable also means good deeds
but we don’t really have that feeling of
giving someone public attention for
doing it with commendable yes it’s like
we want to give attention and notice for
that thing admirable just means we can
admire it so the root of admirable is
admired like to think that something is
good or positive your work ethic is
admirable his cooking skills are
admirable okay so I hope that that helps
thanks very much for the question all
right let’s move on to your next
question next question this week comes
from Katya cherry high-touch aya touch
aya says what’s the difference between
blog and vlog thanks yeah a blog is
something written so a blog is like a
diary or maybe someone writes essays on
a blog I update my blog once a week have
you ever read my blog a vlog actually is
what’s called a portmanteau a
portmanteau is a word that’s made of two
words pushed together so in this case
vlog comes from video and blog or video
and blog these form a combination which
is vlog so a vlog is a video log or a
video blog that means it’s like the same
content it can be like an essay it can
be a diary it can be about some specific
topic but a vlog is in video form so
that’s the key difference here a blog is
written a vlog is in video form have you
guys seen my vlogs before I
a new vlog every week ok great thanks
very much for the question
let’s move on to your next question next
question comes from Mirage hi Mirage
Mirage says why does English have
strange pronunciation rules for instance
pizza is pronounced pizza in Qom the B
remains silent but in tomb and womb it’s
pronounced differently thank you yeah
the short answer here is that
historically English is made up of many
different languages so you’ve got like
Greek and you’ve got Latin French so
there are many different languages
coming together in English as a result
not everything not all words follow the
same rules so that’s why you have
sometimes these kind of strange
pronunciations that don’t seem to follow
a rule so that’s kind of difficult I
know when you’re learning but it’s
something you kind of get used to with
practice so lots of listening and
speaking practice can help you get used
to these kind of strange types of
pronunciations like the ones that you’ve
mentioned here so that’s the short
answer the reason for this is that
English comes from many different
languages I hope that that helps answer
this question ok let’s move along to
your next question next question comes
from Weiser Gong Salafis da Silva hi
Vidor I hope I’m saying that right
Weiser says when can I use as well at
the end of phrases um I wouldn’t say
that there’s such a clear rule for when
to use as well at the end of phrases I
would just say that it’s typically
something we use at the end of like a
list when we want to add something else
so if you think about the situations
where you would use two so you want to
give more information you want to add
another noun for example you might use
as well to do that so let’s look at a
few examples these are some casual
examples of ways we would use as well
when we’re describing lists we need to
buy eggs bread and fruit milk as well I
have to write a few reports today send a
few emails and attend a meeting give a
presentation as well so in these
examples you
and see how as well comes at the end of
a list and it’s actually like at the end
of an additional item - a list so this
is one common way that we use as well at
the end of like like I keep saying a
list you can also find it at the end of
sentences where you’re listing many
things multiple things like I would
probably use it if I’m listing three ish
three to four items in a list so there’s
not really a rule for when to use it
it’s kind of your preference so I would
suggest when you’re reading pay
attention to the times when you see as
well used at the end of something and
maybe you can start to see a pattern or
you can start to see similarities in how
and where that’s used so I hope that
this helps you thanks very much for the
question okay
let’s move on to your next question next
question comes from Mon Mon hi Mon Mon
Mon Mon says hi Alicia what is the
meaning of be there be square okay so
today this phrase means you should come
to this event because it’s going to be
fun that’s what it means in today’s
English actually though the expression B
Square is kind of an old-fashioned slang
expression so B Square meant someone
who’s boring or someone who’s not cool a
square so it’s like a really typical
kind of boring shape a square so if you
say be there or be square
it’s like if you don’t come to this
event you’re boring or you’re not cool
today we don’t really have that boring
or uncool feel about this expression but
it does mean like you should come to
this event if you don’t you’re going to
miss something fun so that’s what be
there or be square originally meant and
how we use it now so you can use it if
you like but it does sound a little bit
old-fashioned I feel I hope that this
helps answer your question thanks very
much for sending it all right that’s
everything that I have for you guys for
this week thank you as always for
sending your questions remember you can
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class 101.com slash ask - alicia of
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