If you ever came across a bottle of Worcestershire sauce and wasn’t sure how to pronounce it, you can blame the spelling. As in many other English words, the spelling and the pronunciation do not correspond. The word Worcestershire looks like a 4-syllable word, but actually it has only 3 syllables, and the primary stress is on the first:
wu-stuh-sh’r [IPA: ˈwʊs.təɹ.ʃəɹ]
1. wu
Start with a W sound and then shift to a lax /ʊ/ sound as in the word ‘pull’.
2. stuh
For the second syllable, start with an S sound and immediately transition to a T. Then move to a schwa sound.
3. sh’r
For the last syllable, start with a SH sound and shift to an R sound. In between these two sounds there should be a very short schwa sound.
Watch my video tutorial and learn how to pronounce Worcestershire:
The pronunciation of the word Worcestershire is hard for native speakers as well as non-native speakers. There are so many memes out there about this word, and for a very good reason.
What is Worcestershire?
Worcestershire is a county in England. You might have heard about ‘Worcestershire sauce’, a sauce that was first made in the city of Worcester, in Worcestershire county.
Worcestershire sauce is used frequently for food and drink, such as Welsh rarebit, Caesar salad, steaks, hamburger, and Bloody Mary cocktails.
Want to learn some more food vocabulary? Check out the video about 6 Food names you’re (Probably) Pronouncing Wrong.
