Pronunciation of ‘vinegar’ in English

by Jakub Marian

Tip: See my list of the Most Common Mistakes in English. It will teach you how to avoid mis­takes with com­mas, pre­pos­i­tions, ir­reg­u­lar verbs, and much more.

Vinegar is used to make food more sour /ˈsaʊər/ (saau-ə) UK, /ˈsaʊɚ/ (saau-rr) US. Although the word is related to vine /vaɪn/ (vaayn), it is pronounced differently: as /ˈvɪnɪgər/ (vin-ig-ə) in the UK, resp. /ˈvɪnɪgɚ/ (vin-ig-rr) in the US.

And when we are at it, don’t confuse pronunciation of “vine” and “wine”; a “vine” is a plant on which grapes grow and is pronounced with “v” at the beginning (as in “very”), “wine” is the liquid you can make out of the grapes and is pronounced with “w” at the beginning (as in “wow”).

By the way, if you haven’t read my guide on how to avoid the most common mistakes in English, make sure to check it out; it deals with similar topics.

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