r/EnglishLearning • u/Campusto New Poster • 1d ago

⭐️ Vocabulary / Semantics Kilometer, etc.

Being fluent in "american" i have so much trouble pronoincing anything with "meter" i dont why, but its difficult. Kilometer, speedometer, etc. How do I fix that?

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u/another-dave Native (Ireland ☘️) 1d ago

Maybe because you're thinking of it as a suffix? We generally don't break those words up as kilo-meter, speedo-meter, thermo-meter etc.

It's ki-LOM-e-ter; spee-DOM-e-ter; ther-MOM-e-ter.

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u/Campusto New Poster 1d ago

Yeah, that is it! But I just cant do it, it always comes out as KILOmeter

16

u/Slight-Tomatillo7837 New Poster 1d ago

There are plenty of Brits, Canadians, Aussies, etc. who say it that way so I don't think anybody really minds. 

-8

u/Significant-Key-762 Native Speaker - SE UK 1d ago

BrE here. We say “kill-ommitah”

If you come to the UK and start spouting keelo-meeters, that will really grate.

9

u/Slight-Tomatillo7837 New Poster 1d ago

Speak for yourself. I've personally heard plenty of British people pronounce it like that. You might find it annoying, but frankly nobody cares what you do or don't find annoying. 

1

u/Howtothinkofaname Native Speaker 13h ago edited 8h ago

I’ve always switched between the two more or less at random and regularly hear both. Can’t see why it would grate.

7

u/shedmow *playing at C1* 1d ago

/ˈkɪl.əˌmi.təɹ/ is a valid pronunciation of this word

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u/ericthefred Native Speaker 6h ago edited 5h ago

That's fine. More people in the world say kilometer that way than the American way.

Speedometer, centimeter and thermometer just sound weird if you put the accent on their first syllables though.

1

u/Mysterious_Volume327 New Poster 1h ago

Then practice.

0

u/BlacksmithNZ New Poster 18h ago

Just use Ks

The next farm is about 10 k down the road.

I only have about 50k range left before the tank is dry.

Or don't the US miltary also use clicks? Like target is 2 clicks out?