Pronunciation Pairs

English pronunciation is so crazy that it sometimes even trips up native-speakers. Two words can have the same spelling but different pronunciation depending on the meaning.

1. We polish the Polish furniture every day.
2. I shed a tear when I saw the tear in my clothes.
3. A farm can produce very fresh produce.
4. The dump was so full it had to refuse the refuse.
5. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
6. The present is a good time to present the present.
7. At the Arm base, a bass was painted on the head of a bass drum.
8. Scared by the gunshot, the dove dove into the bushes.
9. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
10. The insurance for the invalid was invalid.
11. The bandage was wound around the wound.
12. They were too close to the door to close it.
13. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
14. After a number of Novocain injections, my jaw got number.
15. I spent all evening evening out a pile of dirt.
16. He could lead if he would get the lead out.
17. I did not object to the object.
18. There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
19. The buck does funny thins when the does are present.
20. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
21. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
22. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Check pronunciation of contrasting sounds. Repeat each pair as often as necessary.

1. sheep/ship
2. tin/ten
3. bet/bat
4. bet/bait
5. bat/bad
6. cat/cut
7. cat/cart
8. cart/curt
9. cut/curt
10. look/loop
11. cart/caught
12. caught/coat
13. caught/curt
14. coat/cot
15. air/"A"
16. darling/dialing
17. tail/toil
18. tail/tell
19. tail/tile
20. hour/are

NEVER FORGET

KN- When a K is before an N, the K is always silent (know, knee, knife, etc.)

PN- When a P is before an N, the P is always silent (pneumonia, pneumatic)

WR- When a W is before an R, the W is always silent (write, wrong, wrap, etc.)

PS- When a P is before an S, the P is always silent (psyshology, pseudo, psychicatrist, etc.)

E - When an English word has an "e" at the end, it is almost a silent "e" (ate, compare, magazine, indusrialize etc.)

There is a much smaller group of English words where the final "e" is pronounced:

recipe, posse, acne, catastrophe, apostrophe, aborigine, simile, epitome, psyche

Also some words which are borrowed from French, Italian and Spanish:

café, olé, sauté, soufflé