English is not just a language but has now become the most important part of our lives. Without mastering this language, there’s a lack of opportunities for you in terms of career and a sustainable future. Everyone wants to gather knowledge about English to speak fluently in the language.
Well, English is the second most spoken language worldwide. So, it is common to have an aspiration to talk and speak English. It is noticed that the native English speakers always get confused between these two terms- Homophones and Homographs. One because they almost sound the same and two because they have a very bleak difference. If you are one of them, all you need to do is look below and read this article.
Now let us know about homographs and homophones. Homographs are when two words are pronounced in the same way but the spelling or meaning is different and homophones are when the spelling is the same and the pronunciation is different. Here are some examples of both. You can scroll your device and start reading the best information.
Also Read: Online English Speaking Course App: Top 8 Apps to Improve Your English Speaking
English Proficiency
English capability is not measured or considered when you can speak, read, or write English but also with the knowledge of understanding words, their synonyms, and usage of each word in a sentence. You should understand while writing “weak” and “weak” that both have different meanings even after sounding the same. You must not mean “weak” by speaking or writing “week”.
Therefore, it is highly asked to write the correct word in a sentence. Pronunciation of each word is of utmost importance. You should spend your time understanding and correcting the meaning and pronunciation of different words because there are lots of words that can confuse you.
For example, while writing or speaking “lead”, you can pronounce it either as “leed” or as “led”. This can create confusion and misguide the listener about the tense of the sentence. So, let’s have a look at the difference between homographs and homophones. You can use them correctly after understanding it’s usage and functionalities. Look a little down.
Homophones
Well, the first thing to understand is that the word homophone has come from a Greek word. In Greek, homos mean the same, and phone means voice. Homonyms have a different perspective. These are words that have different meanings but sound the same. Now, you should try to read the following words aloud.
After pronouncing them, you should look at their meanings. This would give you the knowledge that the homophones have identical sounds but have different meanings. So, let’s start with the worthy and informative examples of these words. All of these words will provide you with the most relevant information to use.
Homophones Example
#1. Read- When we talk about this word in the past tense we pronounce ‘read’ as ‘red’ and in the present tense it is ‘read’.
#. I have read (red) this book.
#. Do you know how to read and write in English?
#2. Present- One is the tense present and the other one means a gift.
#. Live in the present and stop worrying about the past.
#. What present are you going to give to John?
#3. Minute- One is related to time and the other one means small.
#. I’ll be back in a minute.
#. Microorganisms are minute particles.
Also Read: What are Modal Auxiliary Verbs? Let’s Learn the Condiments of English and Their Functions
Homophones List
#. ad (advertisement) / add (increase)
#. ate (past tense of eat) / eight (number 8)
#. be (verb) / bee (the yellow/black flying animal)
#. blew (past tense of blow) / blue (the color)
#. buy (purchasing) / by (preposition or adverb) / bye (farewell)
#. cell (small room where a prisoner is kept) / sell (hand over in exchange for money)
#. hear (listening to something) / here (in, at, or to this place or position)
#. hour (time) / our (something that belongs to you and others)
#. its (belonging to or associated with a thing) / it’s (contraction of “it is”)
#. know (knowing something) / no (opposite of yes)
#. meet (getting together with someone) / meat (animal product as food)
#. one (number 1) / won (past tense of win)
#. their (belonging to or associated with people) / there (here or nearby) / they’re (contraction of they are)
#. theirs (belonging to or associated with people) / there’s (contraction of there is)
#. to (motion or direction) / too (as well or in addition) / two (number 2)
#. who’s (contraction of who is or who has) / whose (belonging to or associated with which person)
#. your (belonging to or associated with which person) / you’re (contraction of you are).
Some More Examples!
Here are some more examples related to the homophone words. The below-written words have the same pronunciation but are used differently while speaking or writing. The meanings are opposite in use. So, have a look at these too.
#. Hour/our.
#. Bye/by.
#. To/too/two.
Also Read: Tongue Twisters in English for Students: Make Your Pronunciation and Fluency Stronger
Homographs
Homographs are words that have similar-sounding/spelling but have different meanings. The word homograph has been derived from a Greek word in which homos means same and graph means to write.
These words can be pronounced differently sometimes even after being spelt/ written similarly. The emphasis on the word shifts while speaking when we talk about such words. The syllable shift occurs in these words. For example, record and record have different emphasis quality.
#1. Hair and hare
#. She has very beautiful hair.
#. Kids enjoy the story of the hare and the tortoise.
#2. Bare and bear
#. Do not touch the socket with bare hands
#. The bear is one of the most powerful animals in the jungle.
#3. Pair and pear
#. You can pair these shoes with the black socks
#. Besides apples, pear is also my favourite fruit.
Homographs List
You should read the homographs written below to understand the meaning of its usage. Even after having the same spelling, some of them can have different sounds. The list is given below, so start the information.
#. Content
Con-TENT = happy or satisfied (adjective)
CON-tent = all that is contained inside something (noun)
#. Desert
DE-sert = a hot, arid region (noun)
DEE-sert = to leave (verb)
#. Does
DOSE = female deer (plural)/present (noun)
Does = third person singular form of the verb “do” (verb)
#. Evening
Eav-ning = late afternoon (noun)
Ev-en-ing = making more even (verb)
#. Minute
Min-ut = 60 seconds (noun)
My-nute = extremely small (adjective)
#. Read
Red = past tense of reading (verb)
Reed = present tense of reading (verb)
#. Present
PRE-sent = at this moment or right now/a gift (noun)
Pre-SENT = to give something to someone (verb)
#. Permit
Per-MIT = Give permission (verb)
PER-mit = Official document (noun)
Also Read: Simile Figure of Speech: Examples of Simile Figure of Speech
Homographs Example
A couple of examples related to the homographs are written in the points below. You will now get the perfect functionality of these words. You can use them in your sentences to do exercise and to learn them better.
Learning different words and their usage is an extremely exciting and wonderful task. You feel delighted to use multiple words while talking to some professional or your colleagues. It lets you make your mark in the mind of others. So, let’s start with the examples.
#. I drove down the windy (wine-dy) road on a windy (win-dy) day.
#. She will read (reed) the book that her older sister read (red) last year.
#. I’d like to present (pre-SENT) you with a birthday present (PRE-sent).
#. I wanted to record (re-CORD) the record (REC-ord) on my device.
Significance
The significance of these unique words is that they are used very frequently in our daily lives. If we don’t understand the correct usage of these words, we can’t have good communication with others. You can avoid making mistakes in these kinds of words by understanding their examples. You should pronounce and write each word properly.
Many words are mispronounced in our regular conversation. We write and pronounce various easy and common words incorrectly. These errors give birth to confusion in the minds of the readers and listeners. This often results in miscommunication that can be extremely harmful in a professional environment.
So, by learning about these words, we can use them correctly and avoid any sort of miscommunication. This article must have given you the information about the wonderful functions.
Also Read: What is the Personification Figure of Speech? Let’s Learn English Grammar to Communicate Better
Conclusion
The article must have shown you the importance of homophones and homographs along with the usage of them through different examples. You must acknowledge and apply these examples to be magnificent before others by using these English words perfectly. There are several such concepts in English wherein they can be helpful to increase your written and spoken communication and also increase your vocabulary.
Fluent Life offers one-to-one mentoring at your convenience wherein you will be introduced to more such terms and a plethora of examples. The best part? You can learn at your speed. The customized lectures will enable you to understand each concept along with the examples at your learning level and perceptions. You can ask your queries instantly during the lecture and the experts will guide you perfectly over that.
The application and website both are exponentially effective in improving the English capabilities and proficiency of the students. The articles available on the website will blow your mind and give you tremendous knowledge. So, move ahead towards excellence.
