A group of two or more consonant sounds before or after a vowel sound is called a consonant cluster.
For example:
- /b/ + /l/ in ‘black’
- /d/ + /r/ and /ŋ/ + /k/ in ‘drink’
Many HK Chinese candidates mispronounce them (often dropping the second sound of the cluster) because Cantonese does not have them.
So, ‘black’ becomes “back” (by dropping the /l/ sound), ‘free’ becomes “fee” (dropping the /r/ sound), and ‘drink’ becomes “jing” (by dropping the /r/ and /k/ sounds). Sometimes, sounds are replaced with alternative sounds. For example, ‘stretch’ becomes “scratch” (by replacing /t/ with /k/) and shifting the vowel /e/ to /æ/ (another pronunciation error often made by HK Chinese candidates).
These errors are likely to limit the candidate’s Pronunciation band score to 5 (or lower depending on the severity and frequency) because they can cause comprehension problems for the listener.
Test yourself
- Ask an English speaker to listen to you say a word on the left or right and tell you which word they hear you say (left or right).
- Pay particular attention to the second table showing mispronunciations of past tense regular (-ed) verbs.
EXAMPLES (consonant cluster on the left; mispronunciation on the right):
/fl/ vs /f/ | |
flavour | favour |
flow | foe |
/fr/ vs /f/ | |
free | fee |
phrase | phase |
/θr/ vs /f/ | |
three | fee |
throw | foe |
/bl/ vs /b/ | |
blind | bind |
blurry | burry |
/br/ vs /b/ | |
brave | bave |
/dr/ vs /dʒ/ | |
drum | jum |
/kl/ vs /k/ | |
clear | Kia |
click | kick |
/gl/ vs /g/ | |
glass | Garse |
/sl/ vs /s/ | |
slow | sow |
/sp/ vs /p/ | |
spin | pin |
/kr/ vs /k/ | |
crate | Kate |
crave | cave |
cruel | cool |
/pl/ vs /p/ | |
please | peas |
plants | pants |
/pr/ vs /p/ | |
pray | pay |
printer | Pinter |
/tr/ vs /tʃ/ | |
tree | chee |
trim | chim |
/nd/ vs /n/ | |
find | fine |
/kw/ vs /k/ | |
queen | keen |
/shr/ vs /sh/ | |
shred | shed |
shrew | shoe |
/str/ vs /st/ | |
strain | stain |
/st/ vs /s/ | |
boast | Bose |
REGULAR VERBS (these errors can also affect your grammar score when past tense is required) | |
/kt/ vs /k/ | |
cooked | cook |
/pt/ vs /p/ | |
slipped | slip |
/ʃt/ vs /ʃ/ | |
finished | finish |
/st/ vs /s/ | |
faced | face |
sentenced | sentence |
/gd/ vs /d/ | |
bagged | bag |
/bd/ vs /b/ | |
bribed | bribe |
/dʒd/ vs /dʒ/ | |
judged | judge |
/zd/ vs /z/ | |
closed | close |