English Words That Almost Sound The Same (With Pronunciation Examples!)

Hit.

Heart.

Hurt.

Have you ever noticed how some English words

sound somewhat alike

when you hear an English speaker say them?

Sometimes you're not quite sure which word they used.

Words like hit, or heart, or hurt.

That actually did hurt just a little bit.

Sometimes when you're learning the English language,

it's very difficult to distinguish between two words.

So in this English lesson,

I'm going to look at a bunch of different English words

that sound almost the same,

and I'll try to help you learn how to distinguish

between each of them.

(upbeat music)

This is pepper.

This is something that you put on your food,

so it tastes better, it's pepper.

But this is paper.

We use paper when we need to print something.

We put paper in our printer,

or we might even write on it.

So this is pepper, and this is paper,

but the pronunciation is very, very similar, isn't it?

So let me give you a couple more example sentences.

In the morning, I put pepper on my eggs.

I put a little bit of salt on too,

but I definitely like putting on some pepper.

This morning, I put some paper in my printer,

because I needed to print something.

So pepper and paper.

Ah, there is a mouse over there.

There is a little mouse over there.

Did you hear the sound I made with my mouth

when I saw the mouse?

Sometimes when I see a mouse,

I make sounds like that with my mouth,

because I'm a little bit scared.

I shouldn't be surprised to see a mouse though,

because this month is the month where the snow melts,

and then a mouse like that doesn't know where to go.

So during the month of March,

it's not uncommon to see a mouse,

and it's not uncommon to hear sounds like that

come out of my mouth.

Sometimes when I have a headache, I take a pill.

Every day, I eat a banana,

but before I eat it, I have to take off the peel.

And sometimes when I need to get some water,

I will use a pail.

So pill, peel, and pail all sound very similar.

Let me give you a few more example sentences.

If I open this bottle, I can take out a pill.

You can see that I have a pill in my hand.

The other day, when I was walking,

I stepped on a banana peel, and I almost slipped and fell.

This banana has a peel,

and sometimes when I need to get some water,

I will use a pail.

So once again, pill, peel, and pail.

I almost got them mixed up there.

I have to make sure I don't get this next one

mixed up myself.

In my hand, I have three coins.

This bench is free.

And over there, there is a tree.

Three, free, and tree can sound very similar

to someone who is learning English.

I have to admit for myself, they sound very, very different,

but I know from talking to people who are learning English,

three, free, and tree can sometimes sound the same.

So once again, in my hand, I have three coins.

This bench is free,

and over there, you'll see a tree.

By the way, the bench isn't actually free.

It's not for sale at all.

I really like this bench,

and I don't want to get rid of it.

And the tree over there will soon have lots of leaves on it.

And I think I might use these three coins

to buy something yummy later today.

When Jen was leaving this morning, I blew her a kiss,

but then she came running back in the house,

because she forgot her keys.

Kiss and keys sound very similar.

You kiss someone if you really, really like them.

People who are in a romantic relationship

will kiss each other.

Not gonna go into any more details than that.

When you drive a vehicle, though,

you need to have your keys.

You can kiss someone,

or when you drive a vehicle, you will use your keys.

This is a can of beer.

Beer is an alcoholic beverage

that people sometimes drink at night, or on the weekends.

This though is a beard.

A beard is hair that you grow

on your cheeks, and on your chin.

This is a mustache by the way.

So this is beer, and this is a beard.

I don't drink a lot of beer.

In fact, I drink about one or two beers a month.

I am not someone who drinks a lot of beer,

but I'm definitely someone who likes having a beard.

In fact, a few years ago, I shaved my beard off,

and Jen didn't like it.

And a lot of my viewers didn't like it either.

They were like, grow your beard back, Bob the Canadian,

we like your beard.

So this is beer.

This is a beard.

This is a year.

And this is my ear.

Year and ear.

They can sound a little bit alike.

This is the year 2022,

and I hope that it's going to be a really good year.

I hope that lots of people in the world

are able to learn lots of English.

I hope they have a really good year.

This is my ear.

When I was a kid, when I did something bad,

my mom would sometimes grab me by my ear

when she was talking to me.

That hurt quite a bit, actually.

She would say, Robert, that's my official name.

Did you know that?

She would pull my ear, and say, Robert, don't do that.

So this is a year, and this is an ear.

This is my hair,

and this around me is the air.

You can see my hair, but you can't see the air.

My hair is a little bit gray, isn't it?

But I'm glad that I still have hair.

At the age of 50,

I'm happy that I'm not going bald.

I'm happy that I still have hair.

Around me, the air this morning is very cool and crisp.

When I breathe in, I can feel the cool air fill my lungs.

And it's a really, really nice feeling.

I think spring is in the air right now.

I think spring is just around the corner.

So up here on my head, we have some gray hair.

This is my hair.

And all around me,

we have something you can't see, and it's called air.

If I was to describe myself,

I would say that I'm not bold, and I'm not bald.

When you're bold,

it means that you're very confident when you go into a room.

You just say whatever you're thinking when you say it.

You're a very bold person.

I'm not a very bold person.

I'm usually fairly quiet.

I'm also not a bald person.

I have a full head of hair.

That's how we would describe this in English.

You would say, wow, he's 50 years old,

and he has a full head of hair, he's not bald.

So if I was to describe myself, I would say, I'm not bold,

and I'm definitely not bald.

Well, thanks for watching this English lesson

where I talked about words

that sound sort of similar in English,

but actually have slightly different pronunciations.

I hope this lesson helps you learn

a little bit more about how to say those words

when you're having an English conversation.

Remember, if this is your first time here,

don't forget to click that red subscribe button

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and give me a thumbs up

if this video helped you learn a little bit more English.

And again, if you have the time, why don't you stick around,

and watch another English lesson?

(upbeat music)

Hit!

(hand smacking)

Ow.

(Bob laughing)