Words with 'dropped syllables'

English is full of words with dropped syllables. A “dropped” syllable is a syllable in the middle of a word that is not pronounced. The unpronounced syllable can even be a single vowel sound in the middle of a word, for example pronouncing “every” as “EV-ree”.

Here are some more common English words and names where a syllable is not usually pronounced. Practice by repeating the sentences using these words.

Aspirin            asp-ir-in          pronounced as-prin       I took an aspirin for my headache.

Average           av-er-age        pronounced av-rage       My grades are better than average.

Business          bus-i-ness       pronounced bis-ness      My business is doing well.

Camera           cam-e-ra        pronounced cam-ra        My cell phone is also my camera.

Chocolate        choc-o-late    pronounced choc-lit        I love chocolate milk.

Diamond         di-a-mond      pronounced dia-mund   All ladies like diamonds.

Different         diff-er-ent       pronounced diff-rent      I am different from my brother.

Evening           ev-en-ing        pronounced eve-ning     Evening is the best time of the day.

Family             fam-i-ly          pronounced fam-ly         There are six people in my family.

Favourite*      fav-our-ite       pronounced fav-rit         My favourite colour is purple.

General           gen-e-ral         pronounced gen-ral        General Motors makes cars.

Generally        gen-e-ral-ly     pronounced gen-ral-ly   People are generally happy.

Interest           in-ter-est          pronounced in-trest        My bank account gives me 5% interest.       

Jewellery*      jew-el-ery        pronounced jewl-ree      Girls love jewellery.

Laboratory     lab-or-at-or-y  pronounced lab-ra-tor-y My dad works in a laboratory.

Opera              op-er-a            pronounced op-ra           I am not a big fan of opera singing.

Respiratory    res-pi-ra-to-ry pronounced res-pri-to-ry My grandmother has a respiratory condition.

Separate         sep-a-rate       pronounced sep-rit          We all have separate rooms.

Temperature  temp-er-a-ture  pronounced temp-ra-ture  I don’t like it when the temperature is cold.

Wednesday    Wen-es-day     pronounced wens-day       It will be warmer by Wednesday.

People’s names can also have dropped syllables. Barbara is pronounced Bar-bra and Margaret is pronounced Mar-gret.

 
*British English spelling. American English would be ‘favorite’ and ‘jewelry’. 

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