How to Pronounce: Pronouncing scientific terms - inference

Hello, I'm John Russell.

Let's continue our exploration of common scientific terms. Today's word is inference.

An inference is some kind of opinion or conclusion.

This opinion or conclusion is a result of facts or evidence that is closely examined.

Inference can be a difficult word for speakers of many languages.

Persian, some Indian languages, and others. Why?

Part of it comes down to the ar sound, one of the middle sounds in inference. I'll explain.

The American ar can be tricky.

There are a couple ways to form it.

I'll tell you the method I use while pronouncing the word.

For this method, you want to have the back of your tongue do the work.

You need to press the sides of your tongue up against the back teeth.

You do not need to curl your tongue.

You can't really see inside my mouth, so we will have to use our imaginations a little.

What else do you need to know about inference?

We generally stress the beginning of the word.

We can show this by clapping when we say the word. Inference. Inference. One last point.

Inference has two vowel sounds.

The first vowel sound goes like this. i i

The second vowel sound goes like this. uh uh That's all for today.

Keep up the good work.