Business English Pronunciation: The Words That Matter
The words that come up in every meeting are the ones worth getting right. Data, schedule, niche, entrepreneur, executive — plus the numbers and acronyms people stumble over.
By the PronounceIt Editorial Team ·
Business English has a small, highly repetitive vocabulary — which is exactly why it is worth drilling. A few dozen words come up in nearly every meeting, and getting those right buys you more than broad practice ever will.
The words that come up constantly
| Word | Say | The trap |
|---|---|---|
| entrepreneur | on-truh-pruh-NUR | Four syllables, stress at the very end |
| hierarchy | HY-uh-rar-kee | Not “high-ARCH-y” |
| executive | eg-ZEK-yuh-tiv | The X is a “gz” sound |
| strategy | STRAT-uh-jee | Compare strategic = struh-TEE-jik — stress moves |
| analysis | uh-NAL-uh-sis | Compare analyse = AN-uh-lyze |
| colleague | KOL-eeg | Stress the first syllable |
| procedure | pruh-SEE-jur | Not “pro-SED-ure” |
| negotiate | nih-GO-shee-ate | The ti is “sh” |
| infrastructure | IN-fruh-struk-chur | Stress right at the front |
| sustainable | suh-STAY-nuh-bul | Stress on syllable two |
| revenue | REV-uh-nyoo | Front stress |
| genuine | JEN-yoo-in | Last syllable is -in, not “-wine” |
Words with two accepted pronunciations
These cause needless anxiety. Both forms are correct — pick one and stay consistent, because switching mid-meeting is the only version that sounds odd.
| Word | Option A | Option B |
|---|---|---|
| data | DAY-tuh | DAH-tuh |
| schedule | SKED-jool (US) | SHED-yool (UK) |
| niche | neesh | nitch |
| either | EE-ther | EYE-ther |
| route | root | rowt |
| status | STAY-tus | STAT-us |
Most of these split along British/American lines rather than right/wrong ones — see American vs British pronunciation.
Stress that moves between related words
This is the highest-value pattern in professional English, because these word families appear together constantly and the stress does not stay put:
| Noun | Adjective / verb |
|---|---|
| STRAT-uh-jee | struh-TEE-jik |
| uh-NAL-uh-sis | AN-uh-lyze |
| POL-uh-tiks | puh-LIT-i-kul |
| EK-uh-nuh-mee | ek-uh-NOM-ik |
| fuh-TOG-ruh-fee | FOH-tuh-graf |
Notice the vowels change too, not just the emphasis. Unstressed syllables reduce to a schwa, which is why the same letters sound completely different across a word family. The rules behind it are in word stress rules.
Noun/verb pairs where stress is the only difference
Business English is full of these, and getting them wrong signals the wrong grammar:
- a REC-ord vs to re-CORD
- an IN-crease vs to in-CREASE
- a CON-tract vs to con-TRACT
- a TRANS-fer vs to trans-FER
- PROG-ress vs to pro-GRESS
- a PER-mit vs to per-MIT
The rule is reliable: noun forward, verb back. Full set on the heteronyms page.
Numbers, which have real consequences
- -teen vs -ty. Thirteen stresses the end; thirty the start. Same for fifteen/fifty, sixteen/sixty. In a figure that matters, say it twice or spell it out.
- Decimals and currency. “Two point five” not “two comma five” in English, whatever your first language uses.
- Percent = per-SENT, stress at the end.
- Slow down on any number more than the words surrounding it. This is the single most useful habit on this page.
Acronyms and company names
No general rule, so these have to be learned individually — but they come up in every meeting:
- Letter by letter: CEO, KPI, ROI, API, HR, B2B, SaaS is the exception (“sass”)
- As a word: NASA, SCRUM, JIRA, WYSIWYG
- Mixed: SQL is both “S-Q-L” and “sequel”; JSON is usually “JAY-son”
Brand names are worth checking rather than guessing — many are borrowed from other languages and follow that language’s rules. See brand names and tech terms.
How to use this list
- Don’t drill all of it. Pick the ten words that actually appear in your role.
- Add your own domain terms — the vocabulary of your industry matters more than any generic list.
- Check the stress first, then the individual sounds.
- Say them in a real sentence, not in isolation — that is how they will have to work.
- Verify out loud with the pronunciation checker.
Related
Pronunciation for job interviews · word stress rules · noun/verb stress pairs · tech terms