How to say words that begin with ‘H’: Pronunciation Practice

Hello. I'm Gill from engVid, and today we have a lesson on pronunciation of the letter

"h". Okay? And in English, we have to breathe air, "h" like that. So, I know that in a lot

of languages, other languages, you don't have an "h" sound. For example, French, Italian,

East European languages, probably lots more. So, you may find that the pronunciation of

the "h" sound is quite difficult at first. So, this is just to help you with that, and

also to explain that it's not as simple as just one sound. There are two different sounds,

and then some words begin with an "h", but that "h" is silent, so you don't even have

to bother about the "h" sound with some of them. But most words beginning with "h", you

have to sound the "h". So, let's have a look at those first.

So, the ones that are sounded, here are a few examples. So, "hand", so to make the "h"

sound, you have to breathe out from... You need some breath in your lungs, and then "h",

"h". So, for example, if you imagine... If you have a mirror, and the mirror has a bit

of dirt on it, and you want to clean it, so you go "h", "h", "h", and then you rub it

with a piece of cloth, "h", "h", "h", like that. So, I'm sure you can do that. And also,

if you do that on your hand, "h", "h", "h", you can feel your own hot breath on your hand,

so that's also a good indication. First, it tells you you're still alive, which is good,

and also it shows that you're capable of making the "h" sound for these words. Okay. So, "h",

"hand", "h". So, try to say the word and breathe onto your hand at the same time. "H", "hand",

"h", "h", "hand". It's a bit difficult even for me, but "hand", "h", "hand", like that.

So, you might feel a bit dizzy if you try really hard, so it's best not to overdo it.

You might feel like falling over, you might get a bit dizzy with all the breathing. But

anyway, that's "hand". And then "happen", "h", "happen", "happen". Okay. "Happy", "h",

"h", "h", "happy". Right. The verb "to have", "have", "has", "had". Okay. And then the pronouns

"he", it's a bit different because sometimes the letter following the "h" will change the

way it sounds very slightly. So, "h" followed by "a" is like "ha", "ha", but then it changes

to an "e" and you've got "he", "he", "he", "he". So, it's a bit different, it's more

sort of closed up. "He", "he", you can't sort of breathe out so much, but as long as you

get a little bit of breath, you can do "he" and "her". Oh, "her" is easier because your

mouth is a little bit wider for "her". "E", because you're doing "e", "e" and your mouth

is quite closed, you don't get so much space for the breath to come out, but "her", your

mouth is much more open. Okay. "Hear", can you "hear", "hear". Okay. And your "heart",

it's more open again, so it should be easier. "Heart", "heart". Okay. "Hello", "he", "hello",

"hello". Okay. "Help", "help". You can try just making the breath sound before the rest

of the word. "Help", and just work into it gradually. "Help", just to get used to it

at first. And it gets easier the more you practice, of course. Okay. "Hope", so I "hope"

by the end of this lesson, you will be very good at doing the "h" sound. I "hope". Okay.

"House", "house", "house". And "hurry", "hurry" or we'll be late. "Hurry", be quick, be quick.

"Hurry". Okay. So, those are some examples. Maybe you'd like to practice them after you've

watched this lesson. Go through it again and practice, or write these words down and practice

them from your list. Okay.

Then we have a slightly different way of pronouncing "h" where not all words that begin "h", "u",

because the word "hum", that's normal, so that belongs over here. "Hum", that's fine,

but it's a slightly different pronunciation with these three words, so it's like "ch",

"ch", "ch", "human", "human". So, your tongue makes a slightly different shape at the back

of your throat. "Ch", "human", like that. So, you pull your tongue up to the roof of

your mouth to make that sound, and it catches at the back of your throat. So, "ch", "ch".

You can make the sound without the rest of the word, "ch", "ch", "ch", like that. So,

"human", "human". Okay? So, we're all "human", hopefully.

No robots or androids, anything like that. Okay. So, then this word meaning moist, wet.

If the weather... If the climate is humid, it's quite a wet climate. Even if it's hot,

it can be "humid", "humid", "humid". Okay? And then this word meaning funny, comic, "humor",

"humor", "humor". Okay. So, they're just a bit different, but there are not many of them,

and they all... I think they all have "hu", but some of them are not pronounced that way

if they begin "hu". "Hum" isn't, "humor" is. Okay.

Right, and then finally we have some words, not many. Here are a few examples of words

which are spelt with an "h" at the beginning, but the "h", you don't have to do all this

"h", "h". You can... You'll be pleased to know you can say these words without that

"h" breathing sound. And also, strangely enough, there is a word for the letter "h". Unlike

other letters in the alphabet, it is actually a word of five letters, A-I-T-C-H, and it's

pronounced "h", not "h". Some people, especially younger people, are beginning to say "h",

but it's... I think it's still quite a small percentage. Some people think it's wrong not

to pronounce the "h", so they make a big effort to include the "h", "h" sound, but it's not

always correct. So, the letter "h" is without the sound of the "h", so that's a funny contradiction,

really.

Okay, but then all these words here, no "h" sound. So, "heir" and "heiress", these are

people who inherit, inherit money, inherit property. If someone is an heir or an heiress,

you expect that they are going to be quite rich. Okay. So, it's pronounced "heir". It's

just like that word, "heir", exactly the same pronunciation, "heir" and "heiress". "Honest",

if you're honest, you tell the truth. "Honor", "honor" also is to do with being honest, telling

the truth, doing the right thing. "Honor". And the "hour", "one hour", "in one hour we

will have a break", "one hour". So, it's just like that word, meaning belonging to us, "our",

"our dog", "our cat". So, it doesn't sound any different when you say it. You only know

from the context which word it is. Okay.

And then there are a few acronyms where you have initial letters for things, for longer

phrases, where also the letter "h" is included, but again, it's "h", not "h". So, "hgv", this

may only be known in the UK. It means... It actually stands for "heavy goods vehicle",

so a big lorry that's used to transport things on the motorway, usually. So, people have

to have a special driving license to be able to drive one of these because they require

special skills being such a big vehicle. You can't just have a car license and drive a

big lorry, you have to have the special license for that and a special test. So, if someone

has an HGV license, then they can drive those big lorries. Okay. HGV. But I think maybe

in other countries, I think they perhaps use different words for that kind of big lorry,

so this is just in the UK, possibly. Right.

Then we have a chemical term, scientific term, H2O, which you probably know is the symbol,

the chemical symbol for water. So, "h" standing for hydrogen, "o" for oxygen, and that combination

produces water, H2O. And finally, HQ is the abbreviation for "headquarters", headquarters,

so if you have a big company, a big business who maybe have different buildings in different

cities, they will have one big building in the biggest city, probably, which is their

headquarters, their main central office building, where all the most important people, well,

the top directors and the CEO, people like that, work. So, the main head office, head

quarters, HQ. Okay.

So, I hope that helps to clarify how to pronounce "h", how to pronounce the "h" when it's necessary

to pronounce it, and to point out a slightly different pronunciation for some words, and

also where you don't actually have to bother. You could just forget about the "h" sound

with some of these words. Okay, so I hope that's been useful. What I will do now, I've

been emphasizing this "h" sound in quite an exaggerated way. What I'm going to do now

is go through these words quite quickly with a normal pronunciation so that you can hear

what it sounds like when somebody isn't sort of exaggerating, and it's really quite easy.

When you get used to it, it's not difficult. So, it's just when you're learning it, you

need to sort of concentrate on the breathing side.

So, I'll just run through this column first fairly quickly so you can hear what it sounds

like at a normal speed. Okay. So, "hand", "happen", "happy", "have", "has", "had", "he", "her",

"here", "heart", "hello", "help", "hope", "house", "hurry". Okay?

And then these funny three, "human", "humid", "humor". Okay? And then these, I'll say them,

but it doesn't need a lot of effort because the "h" sound isn't there. "H", "air", "heiress",

"honest", "honour", "hour", "hgv", "h20", "hq". Okay. So, if you'd like to go to the

website www.engvid.com and do a quiz on this subject and subscribe to my channel, that

would be great if you've enjoyed the lesson. And I hope to see you again soon. Okay, then.

Bye for now. Bye.