English pronunciation test
Say the 20 words below. Each one is understood or not, and your result is the number that got through. The list is built from words learners mispronounce most: silent letters, shifting stress and the TH, R and V sounds.
Take the test
Press Say it and say only that word. Use Listen if you have never heard it.
- though/ðoʊ/
- comfortable/ˈkʌmfɚtəbəl/
- vegetable/ˈvɛdʒtəbəl/
- clothes/kloʊðz/
- world/wɝld/
- thirty/ˈθɝti/
- months/mʌnθs/
- island/ˈaɪlənd/
- women/ˈwɪmən/
- recipe/ˈrɛsəpi/
- schedule/ˈskɛdʒʊl/
- colonel/ˈkɝnəl/
- debt/dɛt/
- receipt/rɪˈsit/
- sword/sɔrd/
- iron/ˈaɪɚn/
- squirrel/ˈskwɝəl/
- rural/ˈrʊrəl/
- sixth/sɪksθ/
- develop/dɪˈvɛləp/
Runs in your browser with its built-in speech recognition (Chrome, Edge, Safari). Nothing is installed and no account is needed.
How to read your result
- 18–20: your single-word pronunciation is reliable. Work on rhythm and connected speech next.
- 13–17: good base. The misses usually share one sound; check which.
- 8–12: several sound groups need work. Start with the guides linked below.
- 0–7: listen to each word first and repeat it right after the recording.
Why these 20 words
Each word hides a specific trap. English spelling was fixed centuries ago while the sounds kept changing, so the letters often mislead.
| Word | Sounds like | The trap | |
|---|---|---|---|
| island | /ˈaɪlənd/ | The S is silent. | |
| colonel | /ˈkɝnəl/ | Sounds exactly like “kernel”. | |
| debt | /dɛt/ | Silent B. | |
| receipt | /rɪˈsit/ | Silent P. | |
| sword | /sɔrd/ | Silent W. | |
| women | /ˈwɪmən/ | The O is the vowel of “sit”. | |
| comfortable | /ˈkʌmfɚtəbəl/ | Three syllables in normal speech, not four. | |
| clothes | /kloʊðz/ | One syllable; many natives say it like “close”. | |
| recipe | /ˈrɛsəpi/ | Three syllables; the final E is pronounced. | |
| iron | /ˈaɪɚn/ | The R comes after the vowel: “eye-ern”. |
For job interviews and speaking exams
An interviewer or examiner is not counting your mistakes sound by sound. They notice whether they have to work to understand you. The fastest gain before an interview is to list the 30 words you will certainly say (your job title, your tools, your company names) and test each of them the way you tested the words above.
Questions people ask
How accurate is an online pronunciation test?
It reliably tells you whether a word is understood. It cannot give a score for each sound or judge intonation. For that you need a teacher or a dedicated assessment engine.
Which accent does the test expect?
American English. British pronunciations of most words are understood too, with a few exceptions such as “schedule”.
Can I use the test before IELTS or TOEFL speaking?
As a warm-up, yes. Examiners score pronunciation on how easy you are to understand, which is what this test measures at word level.
Related
- Pronunciation checkerPaste any text, read it aloud and see which words were not understood.
- Silent lettersB in debt, K in knife, L in walk: every silent letter with the rule behind it.
- Word stressWhich syllable to stress: eight rules that cover most words.
- Accent testRead 8 sentences aloud and get a 0–100 clarity score with the sounds to fix first.