Government Workers Pronunciation Worksheet

Author: Naomi Styles

© Pearson Education 2008 PHOTOCOPIABLE

In English, we don’t always pronounce words the same way they are written. But there are lots of

rules than you can learn to help you pronounce words better. Here are some of them.

1 The ‘-er’ rule

Lots of jobs end with the letters ‘-er’, but you should not try to make an /e/ sound or a /r/ sound.

To make an ‘er’ sound, open your mouth a little and keep it relaxed. Now make a sound. This is

how you should say ‘er’ at the end of words. The symbol for this sound is /ə/.

Practice making the /ə/ sound at the end of these words:

a teacher

b manager

c fire fighter

d miner

e carer

f bus driver

g gardener

h police officer

2 The ‘i _ e’ rule In the words ‘big’, ‘sit’ and ‘him’, the ‘i’ sound is short. Your mouth should be slightly open, and

you should smile a little. Don’t smile too much. The symbol for this sound is / I /.

When there is a letter ‘e’ at the end of the word, the ‘i’ sound changes. This happens in words

such as ‘like’, wide’ and ‘five’. Your mouth should change shape. First your mouth should be

wide open, then move it into a wide smile. The symbol for this sound is / aI /.

Practise making the / I / and / aI / sounds with these words.

a big

b him

c sit

d thing

e with

f like

g fire

h driver

i outside

j miner