How to Say 20 Business English Verbs CORRECTLY Pronunciation Lesson
Hey there I’m Emma from mmmEnglish.
Today I’m going to help you to practise
your pronunciation, I’ve got twenty English verbs that
my students often mispronounce
and these are all essential business English verbs,
ones that are really useful in the workplace.
But most of them are actually really common in
everyday English as well.
You’ll read them in the newspaper,
you’ll hear them in films or in podcasts,
even if it’s not specifically about
business or work right.
If you stick with me throughout this whole lesson,
you will definitely be sounding more professional,
communicating more clearly.
I think we should just get into it.
As I said, I have twenty business English verbs
to go through with you today
and the reason that many of my students have trouble
pronouncing these words
is syllable stress, where to put the stress in the word
which vowel sound is the strongest and the clearest.
And I wonder how many of them
you’ve been mispronouncing without realising it.
The good news is it takes a little practice,
some regular practice
to break your pronunciation habits so that you can
finally start pronouncing these words correctly,
communicate clearly and effectively and successfully.
So I’m going to go through all of them one by one
but later on in the lesson, we’re going to practise
using them together in longer sentences
because this is often where things get tricky
when you start pushing other sounds and other words
together around these words.
So let’s start really simple with share.
Share.
So we start with that
consonant sound but that vowel sound
may be a little different than you think right? It’s not
it’s not
but
so it’s that
as in hair vowel sound.
In my Australian accent you don’t hear that
sound at the end. It’s just finishing on that vowel sound.
Another really common verb is answer.
Now notice that that W is silent right it’s not
and that’s where some of my students
get a little stuck right? That W is silent.
Answer
which makes it a little easier than
trying to pronounce that sound, right?
We’re going to get into some more advanced verbs
very soon but it really is quite common for my
English students, even my advanced students
to still be making pronunciation mistakes like these.
Pronunciation habits are tricky ones to break
so don’t feel bad if you’re
just realising that you’ve been making some mistakes
with your pronunciation.
Today is an awesome day
because you get the chance to fix them.
Let’s keep going!
Accept.
So these two consonants here
are exactly the same right but
they’re pronounced differently so it’s not
but
So there’s a stop on that sound
to help you ease into the next syllable, accept.
The first syllable is unstressed right so it
reduces down to that schwa sound
The second syllable is the stronger one, it’s clearer.
You can hear it very clearly right?
Accept.
A quick note,
if you would like to learn a little bit more about
syllable stress in English
then I will definitely link to a great lesson of mine
at the end of this video.
You can catch it up there if you need it.
Focus.
You don’t want to mess up the pronunciation here.
Kind of like share, the vowel sound might be a little
different to what you think okay?
It’s a long diphthong sound
as in go, right?
Not
as in hot. okay? It’s not
which sounds a little rude okay? It’s not
It’s focus. So see the movement in my mouth
when I make that sound?
There’s movement in my mouth
as I’m making that one sound.
Focus.
Present.
So when you’re using the verb form of this word,
you really need to focus on syllable stress right
because it’s also common to hear present
with the stress on the first syllable. It can be a noun
or it can also be an adjective, present.
But when you’re using the verb form, you really need to
shift that stress onto the second syllable, right?
Present.
Produce.
So notice where that stress is there as well?
It’s on the second syllable.
Produce.
There are some slight variations in how native speakers
pronounce this word. You will hear some
Americans saying produce
which might be a little easier
but in my accent, produce
like in jam.
Purchase.
So with this one, we really do need to focus on
syllable stress all right because many of my students
pronounce or they put the stress on the second
syllable which is incorrect. It’s not
That’s incorrect.
That’s pronouncing both syllables with
equal amount of stress right and of course this
rarely happens in English.
We usually have one syllable that is
stronger than another.
So here the correct pronunciation is
Can you hear that weaker syllable in the second syllable
We use that schwa vowel sound.
Purchase.
Risk.
And finally, a one syllable word where we don’t
need to worry about syllable stress, right?
But now we’ve got a different problem, we’ve got a very
tricky set of consonants. We’ve got
It’s really, really tricky to push those
two sounds together, right?
As always, when you have two consonant sounds
or even three together in English words,
the best way to practise
is to slow right down and practise the two sounds
next to each other as closely as you can
without adding any extra sounds, just
pausing between them.
Try and bring them closer together,
make them a little closer.
Consider.
This is a really great, more advanced word to use
instead of think. It’s a great way to sound more
professional and to upgrade your English.
Consider.
Can you hear the stressed syllable? Where is it?
It’s in the middle, consider.
But it’s not
all right it’s that short vowel sound
there it is.
Consider.
So even though it’s a stressed syllable,
that vowel sound is still short
though it’s the strongest one okay
and naturally the other two syllables either side,
they reduce down all right?
They’re unstressed so they are lower in pitch,
they’re softer.
You don’t hear them as loudly as the middle one.
Consider.
Measure.
Probably the trickiest thing about this word is that
consonant sound in the middle.
You know the
consonant sound right?
Well this sound is the voiced
pair to that sound
which means that we need to activate
our voice box in order to make it, right?
is made with air.
You can feel that air coming out but
is made with your vocal cords back here.
Less air, more vocal chords and vibration.
Measure.
Now listen to the difference between the two
vowel sounds in these different syllables.
Okay so there is a difference in the way that
the vowel sound is pronounced as well.
Measure.
Identify.
That stress is on the second syllable, right?
The others are short, they’re quick.
Identify.
Multiply.
So take a look at the stressed vowel sound, right?
It’s short, it’s that sound as in up not
not
but multiply.
Multiply.
Develop.
Now this one is tricky for my Indian, Ukrainian,
Russian students, anyone who doesn’t have the
consonant sound in their native language, right?
Often you will mispronounce this word as
Okay?
This can get you into trouble
so really spend some time focusing on that sound okay.
We want the bottom of your top teeth here
to be touching on your bottom lip.
Of course this sound is voiced so we need to activate
your vocal cords.
Develop.
We want to see those teeth all right? We don’t want
Get those teeth out touching that lip.
In fact, while we’re at it let’s also talk about value.
All right?
Value as a verb is a useful one to use professionally,
it helps you to talk about
things that are important to you, your team,
your organisation. You can also use it to talk about
financial value as well.
So it’s
not
Keep practising if you’re finding it a little tough.
Value. Can you also hear that
sound in the end there as well, right?
Not
Determine.
Not
all right? That last syllable is unstressed.
The vowel sound is short, reduces right down.
Determine.
Exchange.
There are quite a few crazy looking
consonants going on there, aren’t there?
Let’s just break it down a little. That first syllable is
unstressed so it’s lower in pitch and it’s quick.
Just like six but without the
Then our second syllable is our stressed syllable right
so it’s stronger, it’s clearer, it’s louder
than the first one and that vowel sound is the
diphthong sound
as in day right? Same sound
but either side of that sound, we’ve got an interesting
consonant pair right? These two sounds are related
the consonant sound.
See how my lips are flaring out to make
that sound, my teeth are together.
This sound is unvoiced okay? It’s made with
air coming through your mouth and making that sound.
But if we keep our lips and
everything in the same position,
we change that unvoiced sound to be a voiced one
using our vocal chords.
These two sounds are the ones either side of our
stressed vowel sound.
Exchange.
Analyse.
So we’re starting with a really strong
stressed syllable here.
But then the schwa sound, an unstressed syllable
follows.
Then we add that
voiced sound at the end
to finish things off.
Analyse.
Sometimes this verb is mispronounced because
it’s quite similar to the noun, analysis right?
Analysis is the result of
this action right? To analyse.
So when you say it make sure you feel and you hear
that final consonant sound.
Analyse
right? For all my Vietnamese speakers
make sure you hit that final consonant sound okay?
Same with authorise.
Starting with
as in door followed by
the TH sound.
right? It’s the unvoiced TH sound made with air
followed by the schwa.
Authorise.
Distribute.
Say it with me. Distribute.
Can you notice where the stress is?
It’s in the middle right? It’s on the second syllable.
That first syllable is unstressed.
Distribute.
And the last trickiest one
negotiate.
The end of the word is really tricky, right?
It doesn’t really look like how it should sound.
Really it’s pronounced,
if you close your eyes and you just listen
Negotiate.
So those are all of the words for today’s lesson.
If you want to go back over those words
before we practise them together,
no problem! You’re in control. Just rewind,
watch them through again.
But right now I want to put those words
into longer sentences to help you practise them
more quickly right, practise them at pace
and this is often where you get stuck right?
So as you speed up your speech and you start adding
extra words and sounds around these words,
that’s where things get a little tricky and that’s
exactly what we’re about to practise.
I’m gonna read it out first.
You can listen but then it’s your turn okay?
Make sure you’re somewhere where you can
practise out loud.
After you do it, I’m gonna say it one more time again.
Don’t forget that you’re in control of this video okay?
If you need to pause, listen again, rewind a little,
play it again, it’s totally up to you.
Take your time, do what you need to do to practise.
In fact, you can even slow down the speed of this video
by using the controls down there, slow it down
to help you really focus on my pronunciation.
Listen to if you’re pronouncing it in the same way,
make some adjustments.
There is absolutely no problem. You’re in control.
Right so you’re ready to try with me?
I don’t want to risk losing this customer.
Perhaps we should consider a different option.
I don’t want to risk losing this customer,
perhaps we should consider a different option.
If we don’t measure our growth,
how will we determine if we’re profitable?
If we don’t measure our growth
how will we determine if we’re profitable?
The company distributes profits based on the
deal negotiated by each stakeholder.
The company distributes profits based on the
deal negotiated by each stakeholder.
I would have never authorised that payment
without the contractor accepting our terms.
I would have never authorised that payment
without the contractor accepting our terms.
Are you happy to answer a few questions
about your experience?
Are you happy to answer a few questions
about your experience?
Amy identifies new cultural trends and exchanges ideas
with researchers at the university.
Amy identifies new cultural trends and exchanges ideas
with researchers at the university.
Before we present the new strategy to the board,
we need to determine the resources needed to deliver it!
Before we present the new strategy to the board,
we need to determine the resources needed to deliver it!
Whenever we purchase new property,
we analyse the market to ensure the value is justified.
Whenever we purchase new property,
we analyse the market to ensure the value is justified.
Since developing a new master plan, the number of new
residents has multiplied every month.
Since developing a new master plan, the number of
new residents every month.
Let’s focus on strategies to produce new
content to share on our website.
Let’s focus on strategies to produce new content
to share on our website.
How’d you do? I know a couple of them were
a little bit like a tongue twister
but you did really well to get all the way through them.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
I hope that you enjoyed the lesson,
that you enjoyed the practice.
And I want to know which of those words
were especially difficult for you to pronounce?
Make sure you spend a little bit of extra time this week
practising those tricky sounds and those
tricky words right?
Bookmark this video, come back to it when you need to.
It’s always going to be here to help you practise
your pronunciation of these tricky English verbs.
All of my English lessons can be found over on the
mmmEnglish blog and the link to the blog is just
down in the description below.
You can also subscribe to my channel
right over there. I make new English lessons every week
so if you want to find out about them, make sure you
turn on that notifications bell
so that I can let you know when there’s
a new one ready for you.
Speaking of new English lesson,
have you checked out that one yet?
I’ll see you in there!