9 Common Heteronyms | Master English Vocabulary & Pronunciation

Hello, everyone.

My name is Fiona.

Today we're going to be looking at two words.

These two words.

They look the same

and they almost sound the same,

but they're different.

Keep watching to find out what the difference is

and to help improve your English pronunciation

and English listening skills.

Let's get started.

First I'll say the sentence quickly.

Really listen.

‘I'm close to the door so I'll close it.’

Now again, but slower.

‘I'm close to the door so I'll close it.’

Okay let's see the sentence.

‘I'm close to the door so I'll close it.’

What words go in these two gaps?

Any ideas?

Well the answer is -

‘I'm close to the door so I'll close it.’

You can see that they look the same,

but they mean different things.

Now, let's have a look at our two words.

We have ‘close’ and ‘close’.

They are spelled in the same way,

but they have different meanings

and different pronunciation.

It's what we call a heteronym.

What's a heteronym?

Two words.

Same spelling.

Different meaning.

Different pronunciation.

Okay

Let's start with the meaning

and pronunciation of our first word -

‘close’

‘close’ is an adjective.

It means that something is near to me.

I have two sentences to help show this.

The first one,

‘You're standing too close to me.’

The person is too near.

They're taking up my room - my space.

It's a physical distance.

You're too close to me.

The second sentence isn't a physical distance,

but an emotional one.

‘My mother and I are very close.’

My mother isn't here right now.

We're not physically close,

we're emotionally close.

We have a very good relationship.

Okay.

Let's practice pronunciation.

The word is ‘close’.

Repeat after me.

‘close’

‘close’

Now let's look at the meaning

and pronunciation of our second word.

‘close’

‘close’ is a verb.

An action word.

It means to shut.

The opposite is to open.

I have two sentences to show you this.

First one,

‘Please close the window. I'm cold.’

I'm asking you to shut the window.

Sentence number two -

‘I close my eyes before I sleep.’

‘I close my eyes before I sleep.’

Now let's have a look at pronunciation.

Repeat after me.

‘close’

‘close’

Now let's have a look at our main sentence.

‘I'm close to the door so I'll close it.’

We've looked at ‘close’ and ‘close’,

but let's not forget ‘I'm’ and ‘I’ll’.

I'm close - I'm near to the door so I'll close it.

I'll shut it.

I will do it.

Okay. Let's practice.

I'm gonna say it slowly to start

and then we'll speed up.

‘I'm close to the door so I'll close it’

‘I'm close to the door so I'll close it’

Well done.

Great job guys.

You got some awesome English listening

and English pronunciation practice in today.

If you want to leave a comment

to let me know what you thought of this video,

leave them down below.

And, as always,

I'm really really thankful  for my student's support.

I'll see you in the next video.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Fiona.

Today, we're going to be looking at two words that will really help your English pronunciation

and listening skills.

They look the same and they almost sound the same.

But what's the difference?

Keep watching to find out why.

Let's get started.

Okay, this one is tricky, so I really want you to listen hard.

Okay?

I'm going to say the sentence first quickly.

Are you ready?

‘We produce produce at the farm.’

Oooh, that one's tough.

I know, I know.

So I'm gonna say it again but slower.

Second time.

Are you ready?

‘We produce produce at the farm.’

Now I'll show you.

Here's the sentence.

‘We produce produce at the farm.’

What words go in these two gaps?

Any ideas?

Well, the answer is

‘We produce produce at the farm.’

They look exactly the same.

I know, I know.

But...

the pronunciation here is really important.

It changes the meaning and  gives you two different words.

So let's find out why.

Now let's have a look at our two words.

We have ‘produce’ and ‘produce’.

They're spelled the same, 

but the meaning and the  pronunciation is different.

It's a heteronym.

What is a heteronym?

It's where the two words are spelled the same way,

but the meaning and the  pronunciation is different.

Let's start with the meaning and pronunciation of our first word.

‘Produce’.

‘Produce’ is a verb.

It means to make something.

And I have two sentences to show you.

‘France produces a lot of wine.’

And ‘Cities produce a lot of trash.’

They make a lot of rubbish.

Now Let's practice pronunciation.

‘Produce’

‘Produce’

Okay, time for word number 2.

‘Produce’.

‘Produce’ is a noun.

It means fruits and vegetables.

So you might have the produce section at a market.

Again, I have two sentences to show you this.

‘I work at the produce section in the market.’

‘I work at the produce section in the market.’

And our second sentence,

‘They have fresh produce everyday.’

‘They have fresh produce everyday.’

Ok, let's practice pronunciation.

Are you ready?

Repeat after me.

‘Produce’

‘Produce’

Let's go back to our main sentence.

‘We produce produce at the farm.’

We ‘produce’, we make we grow, ‘produce’, fresh fruits and vegetables,

at the farm.

Ok, let's practice together.

First, we'll go slow.

‘We produce produce at the farm.’

Now faster like a native speaker.

‘We produce produce at the farm.’

Well done.

Great job today, guys.

You did really well.

And we got some awesome listening and pronunciation practicing.

Leave a comment down below.

I read all of them.

And I'm always thankful for my students support.

I'll see you in the next video.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Fiona.

Today we're going to be looking at two words

that will really help your English pronunciation

and listening skills.

They look the same,

and they almost sound the same.

But what's the difference?

Keep watching to find out what it is.

Let's begin.

Are you ready?

I want you to really listen hard,

because this one's tricky.

First, I'll say the sentence quickly.

‘Let's present the present to him.’ Hmm..

Okay, second time, but slower.

Really listen.

‘Let's present the present to him.’

Okay, I'll show you.

‘Let's present the present to him.’

What words go in these two blanks?

Well, the answer is

‘Let's present the present to him.’

Oh No! They look like the same word.

Again, It's pronunciation  that's really important here.

It changes the meaning.

Let me explain in more detail.

Let's take a closer look at our two words.

We have ‘present’ and ‘present’.

They're spelt the same way,

but the pronunciation and  the meaning is different.

It's what we call a ‘Heteronym’.

What is a ‘Heteronym’?

It's where two words are spelled the same way,

but the meaning and the  pronunciation is different.

Let's look at the meaning and  pronunciation of our first word.

‘present’

‘present’ is a verb.

It means to give or reward  formally or in a ceremony.

And I have two sentences to show you.

The first one,

‘I like to present awards to my students.’

I like to give my students awards.

The second sentence,

‘A celebrity will present the prizes.’

A celebrity will give you your prize.

Now repeat after me.

‘present’

‘present’

Now let's have a look at our second word,

‘present’.

‘present’ is a noun.

It means a gift something  that you give to someone.

And I have two sentences to show you this.

‘Thank you for the wonderful present.’

Thank you for this wonderful gift

that you have given me.

Number two,

‘I didn't get a present for my birthday.’

I didn't get a gift for my birthday.

No one gave me anything.

Okay, let's have a look at pronunciation,

‘present’.

‘present’.

Okay, let's look at our  main sentence one more time.

‘Let's present the present to him.’

Let's ‘present’, let's give,  the ‘present’, the gift, to him.

Okay, repeat after me.

We'll go slowly first,

and then like a native speaker.

‘Let's present the present to him.’

And faster now.

‘Let's present the present to him.’

Well done.

Great job, guys.

You got some awesome listening

and pronunciation practicing today.

If you want to leave a comment

to let me know what you thought of this video,

leave them down below.

And as always,

I’m really, really thankful  for my student support.

I'll see you in the next video.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Fiona.

Today we're going to be looking

at these two words.

They’re really going to help your English

pronunciation and listening skills.

They look the same,

but what's the difference?

Keep watching and find out why.

Are you ready?

Let's begin.

First, I'm going to say the sentence quickly.

So listen really hard.

‘The nurse wound the bandage around the wound.’

Woo, I told you it was tricky.

Let me say it again, but slower.

Are you ready?

‘The nurse wound the bandage around the wound.’

Okay, here's the sentence.

‘The nurse wound the bandage around the wound.’

What words go in these two blanks?

Well, the answer is,

‘The nurse wound the bandage around the wound.’

They look the same,

but they sound different.

I know, I know.

Let me explain why the two different words.

Okay, let's take a look at these two words.

‘wound’

and ‘wound’.

They spell the same way,

but the pronunciation

and the meaning is different.

It's a Heteronym.

What's the Heteronym?

It’s where two words are spelled the same way,

but have a different pronunciation,

and a different meaning.

Let's have a look at the meaning

and pronunciation of our two words.

First, we have ‘wound’.

‘wound’ is a verb,

it’s past tense of the verb ‘wind’.

And ‘wind’ means to turn or coil lots of times.

I have two sentences to show you this.

‘Yesterday,’. past tense, already happened.

‘I wound my watch.’

‘Yesterday, I wound my watch.’

And sentence number two.

‘The vine wound around the pole.’

The vine, a plant, wound around the pole.

Okay, pronunciation.

Repeat after me.

‘wound’

‘wound’

Let’s look at the word number two.

‘wound’.

‘wound’ is a noun.

It means a cut or a scrape

something that is bleeding and it hurts.

I have two sentences to show you this.

‘The wound on my knee hurts.’

The cut or the scrape on my knee is bleeding.

It hurts.

‘The wounds on my knee hurts.’

And sentence number two.

‘Clean the wound before it gets infected.’

Clean the wound.

Clean scrape, clean the cut  before it gets infected.

before it gets dirty.

Okay, let's practice pronunciation.

Repeat after me.

‘wound’

‘wound’

Let's go back to the main sentence.

‘The nurse wound the bandage around the wound.’

The Nurse wound,

she wrapped or coiled,

the bandage around my wound.

The cut or scrape.

‘The nurse wound the bandage around the wound.’

Okay, repeat after me.

We’re gonna go slow to start

and then like a native speaker.

Are you ready?

‘The nurse wound the bandage around the wound.’

Okay.

‘The nurse wound the bandage around the wound.’

Well done.

Great job today, guys.

You did really well

and we got some awesome listening

and pronunciation practicing.

Leave a comment down below,

I read all of them,

and I'm always thankful for my student’s support.

I'll see you in the next video.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Fiona.

Today, we're going to be looking at these two words.

They look the same.

And they sound the same.

And knowing the difference

is really going to help with your English

pronunciation and listening.

Keep watching to find out what it is.

Are you ready?

Let's begin.

First, I'm going to say the  sentence really quickly,

so I want you to listen closely.

‘I had to desert my car in the desert.’

Oh that's tough.

So I'll slow it down for you.

‘I had to desert my car in the desert.’

Let's see the sentence.

‘I had to desert my car in the desert.’

What words go in these two blanks?

Can you guess?

Well the answer is,

‘I had to desert my car in the desert.’

Oh no. They look like the same word.

I know.

I know.

But they're two different words.

And pronunciation is key here

for making sure that people can  understand what you're saying.

Let me tell you more.

Okay let's have a look at our two words.

We have 'desert' and 'desert'.

They're spelled the same way,

but the meaning and the  pronunciation is different.

It's a heteronym.

What is a heteronym?

Well it's where two words are spelled the same way

but have different pronunciation  and a different meaning.

Okay,

let's look at the meaning and  pronunciation of our two words.

First, we'll start with ‘dessert’.

‘desert’ is a verb.

It means to leave or abandon.

Everything goes away.

I have two sentences to show you this.

First, ‘Our father deserted our family,’

Sad.

It means that he abandoned the family.

He left the family.

And second,

‘Rain made everyone desert the beach.’

The rain came.

And because of the rain, everyone left the beach.

No one was on the beach.

The beach had no people.

Okay.

Let's look at pronunciation.

Repeat after me.

‘desert’

‘desert’

Our second word is ‘desert’.

‘desert’ is a noun.

It means a place that is usually very sandy.

Very hot.

Not a lot of water and not many plants.

I have two sentences to show you this in use.

First,

‘This desert has a lot of sand.’

This place has a lot of sand.

It's a desert.

It has a lot of sand.

And sentence number two,

‘You will get thirsty walking in the desert.’

‘desert’ doesn't have water  so you will become thirsty.

You will get thirsty because  there isn't any water.

Okay pronunciation time.

Repeat after me.

‘desert’

‘desert’

We'll go back to our main sentence now.

‘I had to desert my car in the desert.’

I had to desert. I had to leave.

I had to abandon my car -I  don't know why - in the desert.

In the hot sandy place.

Let's practice pronunciation together.

Now I'm going to say it first slowly

and then we'll speed up -

okay

‘I had to desert my car in the desert.’

‘I had to desert my car in the desert.’

Well done.

Great job today, guys.

We got some awesome pronunciation

and listening practice today in English.

If you want to leave a comment down below,

I read every single one.

And I’m always thankful for my students’ support.

I'll see you in the next video.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Fiona.

Today, we're going to be  looking at these two words.

And knowing the difference is really going to help  your English pronunciation and language skills.

Keep watching to find out what it is.

Let's begin.

First, I'm going to say the  sentence really quickly.

So you have to listen carefully.

Are you ready?

‘The dove dove into the lake.’

Oh-ho, that one's tough, I know.

So I'll slow down.

‘The dove dove into the lake.’

Did you get it?

Okay, I'll show you the sentence.

Here we go.

‘The dove dove into the lake.’

What two words go in these blanks?

Well, the answer is,

‘The dove dove into the lake.’

They look like the same word. I know, I know.

But there are two different words, I promise.

Okay, Let's have a look at our  two words a little bit closer.

We have ‘dove’ and ‘dove’.

They're spelled the same  way, but the pronunciation 

and the meaning is different.

It's a Heteronym.

What's a Heteronym?

Well, it's where we have two words that are spelled the same,

but have different meanings and different pronunciations.

Let's look at the meaning and pronunciation of our two words.

First is ‘dove’.

‘dove’ is a noun.

It's a small white bird, similar to a pigeon.

You might see many in the sky.

And I have two sentences to show you this in use.

‘I saw a dove fly in the sky.’

I saw a dove, a small bird, fly in the sky.

And sentence number two.

‘The poor dove flew into the window.’

Oh dear.

The small bird, white bird, flew into the window.

Okay, let's practice pronunciation.

Repeat after me.

‘dove’

‘dove’

Okay, let's look at our second word.

‘dove’ ‘dove’ is a verb.

It's past tense, so already happened of ‘dive’.

‘dive’ means to suddenly and  steeply go down into something.

Could be the air.

Sometimes, it's water.

Okay, let's have a look at  two sentences to show this.

Number one.

‘The airplane dove to avoid hitting the other airplane.’

The airplane went down suddenly in the air to avoid hitting another airplane.

And sentence number two,

'She dove into the swimming pool.'

She jumped steeply into the swimming pool.

She went down into the water.

Okay, let's look at pronunciation.

Repeat after me.

‘dove’

‘dove’

Now, let's look at our main sentence again.

‘The dove dove into the lake.’

‘The dove, the small white bird, dove, went down steeply, into the lake.’

‘The dove dove into the lake.’

Okay, let's practice pronunciation together.

First, we'll go slow.

Are you ready?

‘The dove dove into the lake.’

Now faster like a native speaker.

‘The dove dove into the lake.’

Well done.

Great job, guys.

You got some awesome listening and  pronunciation practice in today.

If you want to leave a comment to let  me know what you thought of this video,

Leave them down below.

And as always, I'm really really thankful for my students’ support.

I'll see you in the next video!

Hello, everyone.

My name is Fiona.

Today we're going to be looking at these two words.

They look the same and sound the same – almost.

And knowing the difference is really going to help

your English pronunciation and listening skills.

What is the difference?

Keep watching to find out.

Let's begin.

Okay.

First time I'm going to say the sentence really quickly so listen well.

‘My boss was content with the content.’

Let's go one more time but slower.

‘My boss was content with the content.’

Okay, let's have a look at the sentence.

‘My boss was content with the content.’

What two words go in these two gaps?

Well the answer is, ‘My boss was content with the content.’

They look like the same word.

I know.

Oh no but they're two different words.

And let me tell you why.

Let's have a look at our two words: content and content

They're spelled the same way,

but the pronunciation,

and the meaning is different. It's a heteronym.

What is a heteronym?

Well it's where you have two words

that are spelled the same way

but the pronunciations

and the meanings are different.

Let's look at our two words in more detail.

Both the meaning and the pronunciation.

First is ‘content’.

‘content’ is an adjective.

It means to be happy or satisfied with something.

I have two sentences for you.

“I'm content with my peaceful life.’

I'm happy with my peaceful life. I'm satisfied.

I don't need anything else.

Sentence number two.

‘She is content to stay home Friday night.’

She's okay with staying home Friday night.

She's happy with that.

She doesn't need anything else.

Okay, let's practice pronunciation.

content

content

Let's look at word number two.

‘content’

‘content’ is a noun.

It means information that is put on the internet or other medium.

I have two sentences for you.

‘Youtubers always have to make new content.’

Youtubers have to make new information to put on the internet.

And sentence number two.

‘My video content uses English.’

The videos that I make uses English.

Okay, let's practice pronunciation.

Ready?

content

content

Now let's go back to our main sentence.

‘My boss was content with the content.’

My boss was content.

He was happy.

He was satisfied with the content.

With the information that I gave him.

‘My boss was content with the content.’

Now let's practice pronunciation.

We're going to go slowly first and then speed up.

Repeat after me.

‘My boss was content with the content.’

Now like a native speaker.

Ready?

‘My boss was content with the content.’

Good job.

Great job today, guys.

You did really well.

And we got some awesome practice in pronunciation and listening.

If you want to leave a comment, leave one down below.

I read all of them.

And I'm always super thankful for my students’ support.

I'll see you in the next video.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Fiona.

Today, we're going to be  looking at these two words.

They look the same and they almost sound the same.

And knowing the difference is really going to help

your English pronunciation and language skills.

Keep watching to find out what it is.

Let's begin.

First, I'm going to say the  sentence really quickly.

Listen well.

‘It took a minute to find the minute crack.’

Okay, I'll slow down.

‘It took a minute to find the minute crack.’

Let's have a look at the sentence.

‘It took a minute to find the minute crack.’

What two words go in the blanks here?

Any ideas?

Well the answer is,

‘It took a minute to find the minute crack.’

Again they look like the same word

but they're two different words.

Pronunciation here is key.

Let me tell you why.

Okay, let's have a look at our  two words a little bit closer.

We have ‘minute’ and ‘minute’.

They look the same with the spelling

but the pronunciation

and the meanings are different.

It's a heteronym.

What's a heteronym?

Well it's where you have two words

that have the same spelling

but the meanings and the  pronunciations are different.

Okay, let's look at our  two words in closer detail.

We have the meanings and the pronunciations.

Word number one is ‘minute’/ˈmɪnɪt/.

‘minute’ is a time noun.

It can mean 60 seconds -

a literal minute or a short amount of time.

Let me show you.

Sentence number one.

‘Class ends in a minute.’

Class ends in one minute - 60 seconds.

That's all the time left.

Sentence number two. ‘Wait a minute.’

Can you wait a short amount of time, please?

‘Wait a minute.’

Now let's look at pronunciation.

Repeat after me.

minute

minute

Word number two is ‘minute’ /maɪˈnjuːt/.

‘minute’ is an adjective.

It describes something small

or something in a lot of detail.

So you're looking very closely at something.

I have two sentences to show you this.

Sentence number one.

‘She examined the contract in minute detail.’

She looked really closely at the contract.

She found all of the details.

Sentence number two.

‘The baby's hands are minute.’

They're tiny. They're really small.

The baby has very small hands.

Okay, let's look at pronunciation.

Repeat after me.

minute

minute

Now let's have a look at our main sentence.

‘It took a minute to find the minute crack.’

Let's break it down.

‘It took a minute …’

It took a short amount of time or 60 seconds ‘ …

to find the minute crack.’

To find the very small crack in my phone screen.

Okay. ‘It took a minute to find the minute crack.’

Now let's practice pronunciation.

We're gonna go slow to start and then speed up.

Repeat after me.

‘It took a minute to find the minute crack.’

Now like a native speaker.

‘It took a minute to find the minute crack.’

Well done.

Great job, guys.

You got some awesome listening

and pronunciation practice in today.

If you want to leave a comment

to let me know what you thought of this video,

leave them down below.

And as always

I'm really really thankful  for my students support.

I'll see you in the next video.

Hello, everyone. My name is Fiona. 

Today, we are going to be looking at two  words that will really help with your English 

listening and pronunciation skills. You can see that they look the same, 

but how do they sound? And what's the difference?

Keep watching to find out why.

Are you ready? Let's begin. 

First, I will say the sentence quickly.

So really listen well.

‘I make live videos where I live.’

Second time slower.

‘I make live videos where I live.’

Okay, let me show you the sentence.

‘I make live videos where I live.’

What two words go in the blanks here?

Can you tell me?

Well, the answer is

‘I make live videos where I live.’

I know. I know. They look the same but  

they're two different words. Let me tell you why.

Let's have a look at our two words in more detail.

We have ‘live’ and ‘live’.

The spelling is the same but the  pronunciation and the meaning is different.

It's a heteronym.

What's a heteronym?

It's where you have two words,

where the spelling is the same,

but the meanings and the  pronunciations are different.

Let's have a look at the meaning and  the pronunciation of our two words. 

I’ll start with ‘live’.

‘live’ is an adjective.

It means something that is happening right now.

You can go and see it with your own eyes.

Like a broadcast or a concert.

Here are two sentences to show you this.

The first one,

‘The live debate is happening right now.’

The live debate is happening right this second. 

You can go and watch it. And number two.

‘I like watching live streams on the internet.’

I like watching people broadcast  themselves on the internet live  

right now as it's happening. Let's practice pronunciation. 

Repeat after me. ‘live’

‘live’

Our second word is ‘live’.

‘live’ is a verb.

It means to make your home somewhere.

And I have two sentences to show you this.

‘I live in America.’

It's where I live. The country where my home is. And sentence number two, 

‘They live across the street from me.’ I live here - my house. 

They live across the street. Their house is across the street from my house.

Okay, let's practice pronunciation.

‘live’

‘live’

Now let's go back to our main sentence.

‘I make live videos where I live.’

I make live videos that are happening right now.

‘I make live videos where I  live.’ - where my home is.

‘I make live videos where I live.’

Okay let's practice pronunciation. We'll go slowly to start, 

and then we'll speed up like a native speaker.

Repeat after me.

‘I make live videos where I live.’ Okay, a little bit faster now.

‘I make live videos where I live.’

Well done.

Great job today, guys.

You had some really great practice in  English listening and pronunciation.

If you want to go and learn some more, then you can check out any of our other videos.

There's some real gems there.

And if you want to leave a  comment, leave one down below.

I'll see you in the next one.