Commonly confused words Did you walk to work this morning? I wonder if you bought a wok to cook dinner then went for a wander and a beer with a bear. Today we are discussing some commonly confused words in English. 1.walk, work These two words are very often confused. Both use long vowels: walk /wɔ:k/ – uses the long vowel as in ‘for’ and the ‘l’ is silent work /wɜ:k/ – looks like it should rhyme with ‘for’, but the ‘w’ changes the vowel sound to /ɜ:/ Try to remember that ‘walk’ looks like and rhymes with ‘talk’. I walk to work every day. I`m walking in a park. I`m working at the office. To walk is my work. 2. bought, boat bought /bɔ:t/ – uses the long vowel as in ‘for’ boat /bəʊt/ – uses the diphthong as in ‘no’ 3. match, much match /mætʃ/ – uses the short vowel as in ‘cat’ – make sure you spread the lips and keep the tongue at the front of the mouth. much /mʌtʃ/ – uses the short vowel as in ‘cut’. Make sure you relax the lips and tongue for this sound. I bought a boat. It didn`t cost much. I`m walking to the stadium to watch the match, that I`ve bought a ticket for. They are a perfect match! 4. wonder, wander These are very similar and the main thing to remember is that they are both pronounced in the way that you do not expect: wonder /ˈwʌndə/ – ‘o’ makes it look like it should rhyme with ‘on’ but in fact it rhymes with ‘sun’ wander /ˈwɒndə/ – ‘a’ makes it look like it should rhyme with ‘ban’ but in fact it rhymes with ‘on’ I wonder why you`re wandering about. I shouldn`t wonder if they win the match. You shouldn`t wander off the course. 5. of, off Pay attention to these very small but extremely useful words. They differ in very subtle ways: of /ɒv/ (strong form) and /əv/ (weak form) off /ɒf/ You can see that ‘of’ ends – surprisingly – with a voiced /v/ sound, that is very unusual. Take care to remember to use the schwa in ‘of’ if it’s the weak form. 6. loose, lose, choose, chose A very contradictory little group here! Sadly there is not much to do but memorise them: loose – adjective – /lu:s/ lose – infinitive verb – /lu:z/ choose – infinitive verb – /tʃu:z/ chose – past simple of choose! – /tʃəʊz/ (chosen – past participle of choose – /tʃəʊzn/) Don`t lose the match! The dog ran loose in the yard. Choose a ring you like, please. Thanks. I`ve chosen one! 7. leave, leaf Sometimes students use the voiceless sound at the ends of words when they should really use the voiced sound. This can change the meaning of the word! Some examples include: leave /li:v/, leaf /li:f/ hard /hɑ:d/, heart /hɑ:t/ dug /dʌg/, duck /dʌk/ rise /raɪz/, rice /raɪs/ Leave the leaf with the secretary, please. It`s hard to win someone`s heart. The duck was found in the dug earth. The sun was rising and shinig upon the fields of rice. 8. bow, bow, row, row, sow, sow There is only one spelling pattern being used here, where are two different pronunciations and multiple meanings! The two pronunciations are /əʊ/ and /aʊ/ : bow /bəʊ/ – noun – the weapon used by archers bow /baʊ/ – noun – the front of a ship to bow /baʊ/ – verb – to bend the head, body, or knee row /rəʊ/ – noun – some objects arranged in a line to row /rəʊ/ – verb – to propel a boat by means of oars row /raʊ/ – noun – argument to row /raʊ/ – verb – to argue to sow /səʊ/ – verb – to plant seeds sow /saʊ/ – noun – a female pig I have a bow. The actors bowed. I see a bow of a ship. We sat in the front row. She rowed across the lake. Stop that row! They rowed about money. I sow rice. I`ve bought a sow. 9. bear, beer These words all use diphthongs: bear, bare /beə/ – which rhymes with ‘air’ beer /bɪə/ – which rhymes with ‘ear’ Similar sorts of words include: hair /heə/ here, hear /hɪə/ tear (tear a piece of paper) /teə/ tear (water from your eyes when you cry) /tɪə/ rare /reə/ rear /rɪə/ Do you want some beer here? The bear wasn`t turning a hair. Don`t tear it! It`s rare! 10. tough, though, through, thorough, thought Let`s clarify the pronunciation of these five ‘ough’ words specifically because the rest of the spelling is very similar and therefore very confusing: tough /tʌf/ though /ðəʊ/ through /θru:/ thorough /ˈθʌrə/ The above words all end in ‘ough’ but below is a very similar one ending as in ‘ought’: thought /θɔ:t/ Please pay attention to the positional length here too. She thought it was tough to thoroughly prepare for her exam. Though I tried every day, I couldn’t get through to them. 1.The dogs run loose in the yard. They are a perfect match! 2. I bought a boat which would help me to sow rice. 3. The bear wasn`t turning a hair. It rowed across the lake. 4. I wonder why you`re wandering about the passage. 5. “It`s hard to win someone`s heart.” The actors bowed. 6. She thought it was tough to thoroughly prepare for her exam. 7. I saw a bow of a ship when I was working at the office. 8. You`re always arguing! Stop that row! It doesn`t cost much. 9. I`ve chosen the way! You shouldn`t wander off the course. 10. Leave the leaf with the secretary. Don`t tear it! It`s for my sow! Did you walk to work this morning? I wonder if you bought a wok to cook dinner then went for a wander and a beer with a bear.
