"Great, date" and "weight" rhyme!
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"Great, date" and "weight": three words with wildly different spellings but the same vowel sound pronunciation!
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"knew" and "new" sound the same
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The words 'new' and 'knew' are pronounced the same as each other, but are pronounced differently in American English and British English.
Read More"threw" and "through" sound the same
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The words 'threw' and 'through' are both pronounced /θru/. 'Threw' is phonetic, 'through' is not.
Read MoreThe word 'close' has two pronunciations
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The word 'close' can be pronounced with a /z/ or an /s/, depending on part of speech.
Read MoreSpecial Valentines Post: 'Love' rhymes with 'glove' and 'above'
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You can blame the days of long ago, when it was hard to write a rounded letter 'u' in Middle English manuscripts for the fact that words in modern English don't end in the letter 'v.'
The ugly solution created was to add a silent 'e' at the end of the word that ended in the /v/ sound and call it good. What could possibly go wrong?
Read MoreThese Words Rhyme: could, good, would
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The words 'could,' 'good,' and 'would' rhyme. Note the 'oo' spelling and the silent 'l'.
Read More"Sail" and "sale" sound the same
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The word 'sale' and 'sail' are pronounced the same and follow common 'long a' phonetic/spelling patterns: /sɑɪl/.
Read MoreStrange Pronunciation: Wednesday
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Pronounce "Wednesday" as a combination of the two single-syllable words "when's + day."
Read More"Meet" and "meat" sound the same
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Here are sets of words with the same pronunciation and the 'ee/ea' spellings. (Don't forget, the 'ea' spelling can have a 'long e' /i/ pronunciation.)
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Facebook Live Event: "3 Simple Rules to Make English Pronunciation Less Frustrating"
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Join us on Facebook for our first Facebook Live Event! In addition to "3 Simple Rules to Make English Pronunciation Less Frustrating," Amanda will also be answering your questions! Post your questions as comments below.
Words with a silent /l/
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English words with a silent /l/ include: talk, walk, half, salmon, calm, yolk, would, could, and should. Click for audio.
Read MoreHow do you pronounce the letter "w"?
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The letter "w" has three common English pronunciations: "double-you," "dub-uh-you," and "dub-yuh." Practice all three here.
Read MoreDo you say the /t/ in often?
/That tricky /t/ in "often," should it be pronounced or not? The most common answer is 'no,' and it's been like that for a long, long time.
Even Queen Elizabeth didn't say that /t/.
When you can't think of the word...
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When that vocabulary word is somewhere in your head...
American English dialects
/If you've been wanting details about American English dialects, here you go! Do you say/hear these pronunciation differences where you live?
Dear Students,
/Dear students,
I know you don't want this to be true. But it is.
laid: /leɪd/
paid: /peɪd/
said: /sɛd/
See other 'short e' /ɛ/ non-phonetic words here.
Sincerely,
Amanda
Image via @The_YUNiversity
Find the non-rhyme
/Which word doesn't rhyme:
a) ear
b) beer
c) pear
d) cheer
Three of these words are pronounced with a 'long e' /i/ followed by an /r/. One word is the 'air sound' /ɛr/. Do you know which one?
Wikimedia image credits:
pear: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Pear_r%C3%B6tliche_85.jpg
ear: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AEar.jpg
beer: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACanya_de_cervesa.jpg
cheer: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ADefense.gov_photo_essay_081205-N-2855B-076.jpg
"aisle-oil," "bike-book," "lock-luck": more pairs to practice!
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Here's an update of even more minimal pairs that have been added to the site recently. (Minimal pairs are two words that are the same except for one sound.)
long i/oi sound (aisle/oil)
long i/short u (fine/fun)
long i/ow sound (cried/crowd)
long i/aw sound (dry/draw)
long i/other u (bike/book)
short o/short u (lock/luck)
New minimal pairs added!
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Yay, lots of new minimal sets added to the new platform this week! Check it out :-)
long a/short o (hat/hot)
long a/short u (lake/luck)
long a/oo sound (fail/fool)
long e/short a (feet/fat)
long e/short u (leave/love)
long e/oi sound (tea/toy)