Present vs Present | Learn English Heteronyms | Meaning and Pronunciation

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.