A short Influency Podcast episode (How to Pronounce Friday) in which Hadar Shemesh teaches correct pronunciation of the word “months.” The episode explains vowel quality (the vowel is the unstressed /ə/ or 'as in cup' sound), the N–ths consonant cluster, common reductions (many speakers drop the /θ/ and say months), and provides example usage (‘three months ago’).
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 word months. Months. To say this word, we begin with the sound and then the as in cup vowel sound. Months. Now it sounds like a stress. You relax your jaw just a bit. The lips are relaxed and the tongue is centralized. Months. It's not months, all right? There is no o sound there, although it's spelled with an o. It's a months. Then we have N ths. Now, since it's a difficult transition N to th and then bring it into an s, you can drop the th and then just say months. Months, all right? Do you hear it? It's not months necessarily. It's definitely not months or for months, all right? You do not insert a vowel there between the th and the s. All right? Even if it's difficult for you to pronounce the th, you can just drop the th instead of adding a vowel between the th and the s. All right? So months or months. Totally fine. A lot easier. And most American speakers say that way anyway, right? Months. Three months ago. I saw her three months ago. Months. All right. That's it.
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, or 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.
