Spelling and Pronunciation Basics

1. Medical Spelling

before you start

As you become more confident using medical terms, keep in mind ways to reduce your risk of errors that could potentially lead to serious consequences. Remember, the well-being of patients depends on effective and accurate medical communication.

When you see new words, practice breaking down the terms into their components (prefix, root, suffix). You can use flashcards with word parts and definitions. You can practice writing terms repeatedly to reinforce your knowledge of them. If a word is unfamiliar and you either can’t work it out from word parts or aren’t entirely sure of the meaning despite knowing the word parts, make sure to check a good medical dictionary.

To learn pronunciation, practice saying words aloud repeatedly so the pronunciation becomes familiar and natural. Listen to audio clips including the terms, which are available in some of the tables in the lesson and the flashcards at the end of each section. Practice using phonetic spelling guides when learning new words so that these guides become more familiar and easier to use. Even if you rely heavily on audio, look at the phonetic spelling guides at the same time.

Accurate medical spelling is critical to avoid miscommunications in patient care and medication errors. Correct spelling helps you produce clear documentation and patient charts, reducing the risk that someone will misunderstand what you meant. Remember that this is not only essential to give patients the best possible care but also has legal implications. It is critical to provide accurate records and documentation.

There are some challenges in medical spelling. These include the unfamiliar word origins, such as Latin and Greek word parts. There are also similar-sounding words and similarly spelled words with very different meanings, so pay particular attention to these as you study. Additionally, silent letters and complex syllables can cause confusion.

did you know

If you hear words before you read them, it can be easy to misspell them. You may picture the letters based on assumptions, rather than initially learning the correct spelling. As you listen to and learn words, pay attention to confusing sounds and commonly confused letter combinations.

Ph and F sound alike. Note these examples of the correct use of “ph.”

• Phleb/o (vein) → Phlebitis (vein inflammation)
• Pharmaceutic (related to medications) → Not Farmaceutic

C and S can be confused.

• Cyt/o (cell) → Cytology (study of cells)
• Cyst/o (bladder) → Cystitis (bladder inflammation)

G and J can also be confused.

• Gen/o (origin) → Genetics (study of heredity and genes/gene expression)
• Gingiv/o (gums) → Gingivitis (gum inflammation).

key concept

Some medical terms have silent letters. For example, think of the well-known term pneumonia, paying attention to the silent “p.” Another example is aneurysm (ballooning of an artery), which is commonly misspelled as aneurism.

Silent letters can lead to misspellings. Note the examples of silent letters below and pay particular attention to silent letters as you study terminology.

Pneum/o (lung) → Pneumonia (lung infection, silent "p").

Psych/o (mind) → Psychology (study of the mind, silent "p").

Gnosis (knowledge) → Diagnosis (identifying a disease, silent "g").

Ptosis (drooping) → Blepharoptosis (eyelid drooping, silent "p").

key concept

Some medical terms are often confused or misspelled. Consider the ileum (part of the small intestine) and ilium (a hip bone). These words can easily be confused.

Here are some examples of commonly confused words. Make sure to look out for these and other examples as you create a list of words to study.

Ileum (part of the small intestine) is different from ilium (part of the hip bone).

Prostrate (lying flat or weak) is different from prostate (a male reproductive gland).

Dysphasia (a speech disorder), dysphagia (difficulty in swallowing), and dysplasia (growth of abnormal cells) are often confused but have distinct meanings.

Perineal (the area between the genitals and anus) is different from peroneal (related to the fibula).

Mucus (a noun for a protective substance produced by mucous membranes) is different from mucous (an adjective that describes the mucous membranes that produce mucus).

Word parts can also be confusing.

Intra- (within) is different from inter- (between)

-itis (inflammation) is different from -osis (a condition)

terms to know

The box below lists terms that are especially important or that may be difficult to pronounce. Audio is provided to help you learn how to say these terms.

2. Medical Pronunciation

In addition to spelling words correctly, it is essential to pronounce words clearly and correctly. This can be difficult if you have never heard a word before. In this lesson, you will learn ways to try to work out the pronunciation of words. However, you can also find audio of words online or ask others to make sure you have it correct. If you search for a particular term with the word pronunciation (such as ”dysphagia” pronunciation), you will often find a variety of examples.

Being able to pronounce word parts will help as you learn to put word parts together. As you have learned, combining vowels are used to make it easier to say some words. So knowing the rules for using combining vowels helps with written and oral communication.

Although learning to pronounce word parts will help a great deal, remember that some words are not built from word parts. These include acronyms (a specific type of abbreviation), eponyms (named for a person), and modern terms. You will learn more about acronyms and eponyms in another lesson. For words that are not built from word parts, you will need to look up the pronunciation if it is unclear.

You will often see phonetic spellings of words to help you work out the pronunciations. The table below helps to explain how to understand these spellings.

2a. Rules and Guidelines

It’s important to consider rules and guidelines for appropriate communication.

Combinations of vowels can sometimes be challenging. Some examples are below. If you have difficulty working out the pronunciation, remember that you can also look up pronunciations in any good medical dictionary.

The table below shows the sounds of some vowel combinations. To demonstrate these examples, some British spellings are used. Note that the equivalent American spellings for these vowel combinations are pronounced in the same way. You only need to learn American spellings for this course.

did you know

For this course, you will only be tested on U.S. English spellings and terms. However, you may sometimes encounter different spellings that are correct in international usage, just not typical in U.S. English. British spelling is commonly encountered. Here are just a few examples that you may see to give you an idea of what to expect.

British Spelling	U.S. Spelling	Definition
Anaemia	Anemia	Insufficient red blood cells or hemoglobin
Anaesthetic	Anesthetic	Substance used to reduce awareness and sensitivity to pain for surgeries and other procedures
Gynaecology	Gynecology	Study of the female reproductive system/medical specialty focusing on the female reproductive system
Haemoglobin	Hemoglobin	Red pigment in red blood cells; carries oxygen
Haemorrhage	Hemorrhage	Loss of blood

Here are some examples of terms showing other important pronunciation patterns. If you're unsure how to sound these out, click on the audio file in the table below or review them in the flashcards.

Many medical words have three or more syllables. Most often, the stress is on the third-to-last syllable in these words. You can see this in words like the examples below.

hint

Some terms are particularly challenging. Some are used often, and you will have a chance to learn them well. In other cases, make sure to look up pronunciations and consider listening to audio to make sure that you are saying words correctly.

Here are three examples.

• Ischemia (is-KEE-mee-a) means inadequate blood supply.
• Myocardial Infarction (my-o-KAR-dee-al in-FARK-shun) means a heart attack; more technically, it means heart muscle (myocard) death due to a lack of sufficient blood flow (infarction).
• Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (eh-SOF-a-go-gas-tro-doo-oh-de-NOS-ko-pee) means viewing the upper gastrointestinal tract with an endoscope; specifically, the esophagus, stomach, and first part of the small intestine (duodenum) are viewed.

MTA03

2b. Abbreviations and Acronyms

In healthcare, abbreviations and acronyms are commonly used to facilitate communication. These pronunciations can be idiosyncratic. For example, AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is pronounced as AIDS (a single word), but MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) is pronounced as M-R-I with each letter spoken separately.

The abbreviation CABG stands for coronary artery bypass graft. This is a technique that is used to improve blood flow to the heart when there is a blockage or narrowing of a coronary artery. For simplicity, CABG is pronounced as cabbage (like the vegetable).

When you encounter a new term, take the time to find out the correct pronunciation to make sure that you are understood.

terms to know

The box below lists terms that are especially important or that may be difficult to pronounce. Audio is provided to help you learn how to say these terms.

REFERENCES

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.) Acronym. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved 6 April 2025, from www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acronym.

Merriam-Webster. Eponym. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved 6 April 2025, from www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eponym.