You read it. You know it. You still can’t say it.

You know that moment when you meet an English word on the page – one you’ve never said out loud — and suddenly you’re guessing at every syllable?

In German, that rarely happens. If you can read it, you can say it.

English has been borrowing words for over a thousand years –French, Latin, Old Norse and plenty more. The spellings often came along for the ride. That’s why ‘tough’ rhymes with ‘tuff’, ‘bough’ rhymes with ‘bow’, and past-tense ‘read’ sounds like ‘red’.

It looks like a mess, but it’s an old mess.

And yes: native speakers guess too. A lot. They just say it, keep talking and adjust later if they need to.

Next time a word throws you, say your best version out loud and move on. That’s how the word starts to stick.

💬 Which English word has tripped you up lately?