WORDS, WORDS, WORDS

Do you find English pronunciation confusing? Well, don’t worry - you are not alone. Even native speakers of English struggle with how to correctly pronounce some words.

One of the reasons why English pronunciation is difficult is because there are many words which are spelled differently, have different meanings, but are pronounced EXACTLY the same. These are called homophones. Here are some examples of commonly mispronounced homophones :

Air (what you breathe) = Heir (the person who will inherit money or property when someone dies)

Mayor (the head of the town) = Mare (an adult female horse)

Sew (using a needle and thread)= So (many meanings!)

One (the number) = Won (the past form of "win")

If you would like more information on WORDS, WORDS, WORDS, please email Doctor English with your questions at drenglish@vec.ca.