Pronunciation of ‘hindsight’ and ‘hinder’ in English

by Jakub Marian

Tip: See my guide to the Most Common Pronunciation Errors in English. It will teach you about commonly mispronounced words, pro­nunci­ation patterns, and the basics of English phonology.

After something happens, you have a much better understanding in hindsight of what would have been appropriate to do in such a situation, and this understanding itself is called “hindsight”, pronounced /ˈhaɪndsaɪt/ (haaynd-saayt). The “hind” is etymologically related to “behind”, and so is the pronunciation.

On the other hand, “hinder” is also etymologically related to “behind”, but is pronounced /ˈhɪndə/ (hin-də) in the UK resp. /ˈhɪndɚ/ (hin-dr) in the US. The same applies to “hindrance” /ˈhɪndrəns/ (hin-drəns).

This article was based on my guide to English pronunciation mistakes, which explains many similar topics. Why don’t you check it out?

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