Difficult Business English Words for Spanish Speakers to Pronounce
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/v/ sounds at the beginning or in the middle of a word
Due to the fact that a ‘v’ spelling is pronounced /b/ in Spanish, many Spanish speakers make the error of pronouncing ‘v’ sounds as a /b/ in English. Words with an English ‘v’ spelling should also be pronounced /v/. Here are the most classic advanced Business English examples:[/text_block]
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delivery[/text_block]
risk-averse[/text_block]
develop[/text_block]
availability[/text_block]
Words with ‘dv’
There are some very important business words with /dv/ sounds, which can actually be more difficult than /v/ sounds.[/text_block]
disadvantage[/text_block]
Words with ‘nv’
Words with ‘nv’ are also very common in advanced Business English. These can also be quite challenging:[/text_block]
involve[/text_block]
invest[/text_block]
convert[/text_block]
/ks/ sounds (mainly words with an ‘x’)
In spanish, the /ks/ sound does not exist. When Spanish speakers pronounce words with an ‘x’ in them, they sometimes pronounce them with an /s/ sound, which can be difficult to understand. Here are the most common Business English examples:[/text_block]
explain
expert
expand
experiment
extensive
expensive
experience
exit
excited
access
success[/text_block]
/ek splain/ /e splain/
/ek spert/ /e spert/
/ek spand/ /e spand/
/ek spe ri ment/ /e spe ri ment/
/ek sten sive/ /e sten sive/
/ek spen sive/ /e spen sive/
/ek spe ree yence/ /e spe ree yence/
/ek sit/ /e sit/
/ek sai ted/ /e sai ted/
/ak ses/ /a ses/
/suk ses/ /su ses/ [/text_block]
Words with ‘j’ in the spelling
Spanish speakers sometimes pronounce English words spelt with ‘j’ with a ‘y’ sound. This can sometimes cause confusion.[/text_block]
major
majority[/text_block]
/may djor/ /ma yor/
/ma djo ri tee/ /ma yo ri tee/ [/text_block]
Would you like to avoid classic grammar mistakes that Spanish speakers make in their Business English?
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Check out the Fluency Space mailing list for diagrams such as these to avoid classic Spanish mistakes!
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