One of the error patterns which is common for non-native speakers of English is to say an extra syllable in certain words. This usually occurs because the spelled word looks like it should have additional sounds/syllables, or the root word has a different syllable pattern.

Here are some words to work on, written so you can see the syllables:

Different DIF rint

Difference DIF rinss

General GEN rul

Groceries GROS(H) reez

Vegetables VEG tuh blz

Several SEV rul

Interest IN trist

Interested IN tris tid

Interesting IN tris ting

Preferable PREF ruh bl

Specifically spuh SIF ick lee

Basically BAY sick lee

Actually ACK shuh lee

Practice these repeated phrases:

I need a different ____.
How may different ___-s do we have?
It makes a difference to ___.
It doesn't make any difference for the ___.
A general ___.
In general, they ___.
A vegetable ___.
We have vegetables ____.
We need several ___-s.
There are several different ___-s.
I have an interest in ____.
We're interested in ___.
It's an interesting ___.
___ would be preferable to ____.
She specifically said ___.
I think it's basically about ___.
We actually want ___.

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