sworn, swear, oath

[Madman1981]

Three difficult words: sworn, swear, oath. I especially have trouble with pronouncing 'oath' which I often pronounce 'ous'.

'Such a man would not have to be sworn to secrecy?'
'A man can swear a hundred different oaths and break them all.

Seawitch by Alistair MacLean

Voice message - SpeakPipe

www.speakpipe.com

 

[emsr2d2]

You definitely need to improve "sworn". The w sounds like a v so you say "svorn".

You get the "sw" sound right in "swear" but you get the end of the word wrong. It sounds like "swer". The "ear" is pronounced like the word "air".

You're right that "oaths" is clearly very problematic for you. I heard just "oa". First, practice the singular "oath" over and over again. Remember that the "th" at the end is light, like the one at the end of "both", not the hard "th" at the end of "with" or at the start of "this".

You have a problem with "break" too. It sounds like "bereck". Can you pronounce "bread" correctly? If so, you need to use the same opening "br" and then follow it with "ake" (that's the sound, not the spelling). The words "break" and "brake" sound identical.

 

[Madman1981]

You definitely need to improve "sworn". The w sounds like a v so you say "svorn".

You get the "sw" sound right in "swear" but you get the end of the word wrong. It sounds like "swer". The "ear" is pronounced like the word "air".

You're right that "oaths" is clearly very problematic for you. I heard just "oa". First, practice the singular "oath" over and over again. Remember that the "th" at the end is light, like the one at the end of "both", not the hard "th" at the end of "with" or at the start of "this".

You have a problem with "break" too. It sounds like "bereck". Can you pronounce "bread" correctly? If so, you need to use the same opening "br" and then follow it with "ake" (that's the sound, not the spelling). The words "break" and "brake" sound identical.

Thank you.
How 'sworn' pronunciation is different from 'sorn' in American English? I hear it same as 'sorn' in this video. There must be a sound between s and o that my ears are not familiar with.
'oath' is really difficult to pronounce. I'll practice more.
About 'break', yes you are right. We usually have a vowel between two consonants when they occur at the beginning of a word, so I unconsciously and automatically added a vowel between b and r.

 

[PeterCW]

Thank you.
How 'sworn' pronunciation is different from 'sorn' in American English? I hear it same as 'sorn' in this video. There must be a sound between s and o that my ears are not familiar with.
'oath' is really difficult to pronounce. I'll practice more.
About 'break', yes you are right. We usually have a vowel between two constants when they occur at the beginning of a word, so I unconsciously and automatically added a some vowels to the word.

I heard the "w" in all the examples in the video although the stress on the vowel means that it can be weak.

 

[emsr2d2]

How is the pronunciation of 'sworn' pronunciation is different from 'sorn' in American English? I hear it same as 'sorn' in this video. There must be a sound between s and o that my ears are not familiar with.

It should never sound like "sorn". Just use the same opening sound you did with "swear" and you'll be fine!

'oath' is really difficult to pronounce. I'll practice more.

Good idea.

About 'break', yes, you are right. We usually have a vowel between two consonants when they occur at the beginning of a word, so I unconsciously and automatically added a vowel between b and r.

I'm not sure where you get the idea that there's usually a vowel between two consonants at the start of a word. I've marked in green all the words in these two sentences that don't follow that pattern. Granted, several of them begin with "th" but if you stop and study more written English for a while, you'll see your statement simply isn't true.

 

[Tarheel]

There are many words that start with two consonants.

braid
branch
breakfast
brawl
black
bleed
blonde
bleach
blood
brown
brawny
brain
braise
charm
charming
check
chalk
chamber
chicken
chill
chimney
chunk
chirp

There are many more.

 

[PeterCW]

I'm not sure where you get the idea that there's usually a vowel between two consonants at the start of a word. I've marked in green all the words in these two sentences that don't follow that pattern. Granted, several of them begin with "th" but if you stop and study more written English for a while, you'll see your statement simply isn't true.

I assumed that the "we" in "we usually have a vowel between two consonants" was referring to the OP's native language.

 

[Madman1981]

It should never sound like "sorn". Just use the same opening sound you did with "swear" and you'll be fine!

Good idea.

I'm not sure where you get the idea that there's usually a vowel between two consonants at the start of a word. I've marked in green all the words in these two sentences that don't follow that pattern. Granted, several of them begin with "th" but if you stop and study more written English for a while, you'll see your statement simply isn't true.

Sorry! By "we" in "We usually have a vowel between two consonants..." I meant in my native language. I should have specified it.

 

[emsr2d2]

Sorry! By "we" in "We usually have a vowel between two consonants..." I meant in my native language. I should have specified it.

Yes, you should have.

 

[Madman1981]

Yes, you should have.

I asked from AI that if saying "you should have..." is polite or not. Here is the result:

When "You should have..." is polite:​

• Helpful advice, not criticism:
  

  "You should have saved a backup — it helps a lot in cases like this!"

• Spoken with care or sympathy:
  

  "You should have told me you were struggling — I would’ve helped!"

• Friendly banter or shared regret:
  

  "You should have come to the party, it was awesome!"

When it can sound rude:​

• If it sounds like blame or judgment:
  

  "You should have known better."
  (This sounds accusatory.)

• If it's said after something went wrong, it may feel like rubbing it in:
  

  "You should have done it the right way."
  (Ouch.)

It seems to me that your response is an example of the case I highlighted in blue. Is that so? I'm asking because I'd like to understand how to use this sentence myself in a similar situation.

 

[emsr2d2]

I simply said it to agree with you. You said "I should have specified it" and I said "Yes, you should have". I could have simply said "Yes" or "You're right", or I could have made it longer and said "Yes, it would have been helpful if you'd specified that you were talking about your native language".

I wasn't being impolite and I wasn't rubbing it in.