Hadar Shemesh breaks down the pronunciation difference between "won't" and "want". Won't uses a long O sound, want uses an open ah sound. Practice sentences and phonetic tips help you nail both.
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Welcome to the Influency podcast. I'm Hadar and this is how to Pronounce Friday, where we take a confusing word or word pair. We learn how to pronounce it and how to use it with confidence. Let's get started. Today we're going to talk about the two words won't versus want. Won't as in I won't do it and want as in I want to do it. Okay, so as you can hear, both words are pronounced differently. Although I hear that non native speakers tend to often pronounce both words the same. I won't do it and I want to do it. Alright, so let's learn how to distinguish the two words. Now, obviously the sentence structure for both, when you use both words, different, quite different. But also we want to make a clear distinction in pronunciation. So let's begin with the word won't as in will not. The word begins with a W sound. So you bring your lips together, W. And then there is a long O vowel. O as in go. Won't. Won't. Okay, O as in the letter O is pronounced in the Alphabet. Now notice it has two parts. You begin with an open sound and then you close it to an U sound. Think of it as if adding a W sound after the. I won't do it. I won't go there. I won't be there. All right, now, the word want is actually an open ah sound. Want, want. So it begins the same w, w. But then instead of saying want, I just drop my jaw, open it to an ah as in father vowel. Want. I want to go there. I want to be there. I want it. Want. Won't. All right. Rounded lips, a long diphthong. Whoa. I close it to an oo sound. Won't. Want. I won't go. I want to go. All right, good. So practice these two words in context. Remember to take your time with a long vowel, especially for the won't. And I'm sure you'll be able to pronounce it perfectly. Okay, that was your how to Pronounce Friday episode. I hope you enjoyed it. And if you like the podcast, then consider subscribing to the podcast. And if you feel really crazy, you can even rate and review the podcast. And you can find me at Hadar Accentsway on Instagram, where you can DM me and ask for all the crazy, fancy, confusing words that you'd like to know how to pronounce. Have a beautiful day and I'll see you next time.
