Although many of the same brands exist in different countries, their pronunciation is all slightly different.
To show how differently a word can be pronounced, six different people from Europe and America discussed how they pronounce different words.
An individual representing Germany, Italy, France, Italy, Sweden, Spain and the United States all shared how certain makes and brands of luxury cars were talked about in their home countries
While in English most people pronounce the Swedish furniture giant Ikea as ‘Eye-key-ah’, in European countries several vowels are elongated.
Six women from different countries around the world compared their pronunciations of popular brand names to discover the correct way to pronounce them
The statement from Ikea and Zara were the two brands with the most shocking statement
According to Hanna, from Sweden, the store is not pronounced the way we think, which is why the Swedes say: ‘Eh-kay-ah.’
“We pronounce the “E” very loud and long,” Hanna explained. “But when I speak English, I always pronounce it ‘eye-key-ah.’
The girls from France, Germany, Spain and Italy agreed, with the only person who pronounced the name differently being Virginia, from the US.
The next shocking statement was from Spanish clothing brand Zara, with native Spanish speaker Carol revealing it was actually said with a ‘th’ sound instead of ‘Z’.
“It’s actually called ‘th-er-ra,'” Carol explained.
Germany and Italy pronounce the Z much louder, with Germany putting more emphasis on the ‘a’, making it sound like ‘za-ah-ra.’
French was similar to English pronunciation, except that the Z was a little closer to the rest of the word.
In the meantime. Swedish speakers say that the Z and an S- almost sounded like ‘Sora.’
Jessica (pictured) from Germany said Volkswagen was pronounced ‘fau-vey’ or ‘volkswagen’ in her home country
While in English most people pronounce the Swedish furniture giant Ikea as ‘Eye-key-ah’ – in European countries several vowels are elongated
Jessica (left) from Germany noted that the French pronunciation was closest to how it is said in her home country
The German car Audi was next, which is said ‘ow-dee’ in German, English, Spanish and Italian – with only the French pronouncing it slightly differently as ‘oodi’
The next step was cars, with European countries using different names for a car – which they also emphasized
In Germany they say car, in Sweden; buttock, Spanish; coche (short-eh), while Italians have many words, using auto or auto, but the most common is macchina (mack-in-a) and the French use auto, car or voiture (vort-chure).
The group then compared popular German car brands, starting with the luxury car Mercedes-Benz.
In Germany, according to Jessica, they say ‘mert-say-dez-bends’, with a slightly shorter ‘Mer’ at the beginning of the world.
“We pronounce the Z very loudly,” she explained. “So the Z is almost a set.”
In Sweden the ‘ced’ switches to a ‘sh’ sound – making it sound like ‘mer-shay-dees-bends’, while the Spanish say ‘Mer-they-des-bends’ and the Italians say ‘mer-chay – dees-bends’, and the French simply say: ‘Mercedes.’
Another German car followed: BMW or Bayerische Motoren Werke.
“We just saw BMW in English,” laughed Virginia from the US.
Many of the other countries said they pronounced the ‘W’ with a ‘V’, making it ‘BMV’.
Volkswagen was next, which according to Jessica from Germany, was pronounced “fau-vey” or “volkswagen” in her home country.
In Sweden it is pronounced with a softer ‘s’ – ‘volts-wagon’, in Spain it is ‘vols-wagon’ – with the ‘V’ almost sounding like a ‘B’, Italians say ‘volts-wagon’ – with a ‘V’ sounds like ‘W’ – and the French look like Germans – with a softer ‘V’.
“I think the most similar one is probably French,” Jessica said, while Italy’s Vittoria noted that Italians don’t use the letter ‘K’ much, making their pronunciation of Volkswagen very different.
In Germany the Z is more difficult and they say ‘mert-say-dez-bends’, with a slightly shorter ‘Mer’ at the beginning of the word
Lamborghini was said the same way in all countries – with some slightly lengthened vowels – while in France it was said more like ‘lom-bor-geen-ee’.
The German car Audi was next, which is said ‘ow-dee’ in German, English, Spanish and Italian – with only the French pronouncing it slightly differently as ‘oodi’.
Porsche was next, pronounced ‘poor shay’ in Germany.
Swedes also say ‘poor-shay’, while Americans, Italians and Spaniards pronounce the luxury car as ‘poor-shay’.
The Italian car Ferrari was pronounced the same throughout, with the exception of the European’s ability to roll his ‘r’ and the slight exaggeration of the ‘I’ at the end of the word.
While Fiat said more or less the same thing everywhere – ‘fee-at’ – there were some differences between the Italian brand Maserati.
In Germany the ‘S’ sound has a harder ‘Z’, like the same in Italian, in Sweden it is a softer ‘S’, which is also adopted by the French and the Spanish.
Lamborghini was pronounced the same in all countries – with some slightly lengthened vowels – while in France it was pronounced more like ‘lom-bor-geen-ee’.
Volvo was also said somewhat similarly, with the two ‘O’s’ saying slightly different in Swedish.
“The first ‘O’ is more like the ‘belt’ sound,” Hanna explained. ‘The last ‘O’ looks a bit like ‘oo’.’
Bugatti – often pronounced ‘boo·gaa·tee’ – again had a similarity, except in French, where the ‘gaa’ was replaced with ‘gee’, making it ‘boo-gee-tee’.