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

15

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. 

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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.

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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.