What's new on IELTS with Fiona

• DEBT (when you owe money)
• 🏡 MORTGAGE (when you borrow money to buy a house)
• RECEIPT (a piece of paper that you are given which shows that you have paid for something)

They are on my list of '101 most mispronounced words'!

Not only do they have silent letters, but they also have spelling patterns that cause confusion.

For example, 'age' is normally pronounced 'eidg', but in the weak form, it's 'idge', like 'fridge' (see tricky words ending in 'age').

Also, 'receipt' looks like 'recipe' /ˈresəpi/, which is another confusing word (the French word for 'recipe' is 'recette'!!).

Answers:

✅ debt: The b is silent, pronounced as /det/.

❌ Common mistake: Learners might pronounce the b, saying /dɛbt/.