THE FLATMATES

Language point:
Homophones 2
BBC Learning English – The Flatmates

The Flatmates – Homophones

You can see this language point online at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode43/languagepoint.shtml

In English it is possible for two different words – words with different spelling and
different meaning – to have the same pronunciation. These are homophones. For
example, mail and male and practice and practise. This occurs because English is not
written in a strictly phonetic way. There are more than 400 pairs of homophones.

Common homophones:
mail and male
The first means post and letters, the second is the opposite of female

brake and break

The first stops a car or bicycle from moving, the second means to damage something

wait and weight

The first is what you do at a bus stop, the second is measured in kilogrammes

read and red

The first is the past simple of ‘to read’, the second is the colour of danger

buy, by and bye

The first is to obtain something using money, the second is a preposition, the third is a
shortened form of ‘goodbye’

sore and soar

The first means something hurts, the second means to fly high in the sky

pause and paws

The first is a short gap in speech, the second are animals’ feet.

pores and pours

The first are small holes in the skin, the second is from the verb ‘to pour water from a
jug’

Verb and noun homophones:

practise and practice
Both mean to do something to get better at it. The first is the verb, the second the noun

license and licence

Both refer to official permission to do something. The first (in British English) is verb
meaning to give the permission, the second is the noun and refers to the official
document of permission

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Contractions (e.g. he’s, I’m) homophones:

aisle, isle and I’ll
The first is the gap between columns of seats, the second is a small island, the third is a
contraction of ‘I will’

heel, heal and he’ll

The first is the back of the bottom of your foot, the second means to repair an injury,
the third is a contraction of ‘he will’

your and you’re

The first is a possessive pronoun, the second the contraction of ‘you are’

there, their and they’re

The first is an adverb, the second a possessive pronoun, the third a contraction of ‘they
are’

Vocabulary:
a night-shift:
a period of work that takes place during the night

exhausted:
very tired

to revise for exams:

to do special preparation for an exam, when you look back at your earlier work

Would you like to try an online quiz about this language point? Go to:
http://bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode43/quiz.shtml

Or you can download the quiz from:

http://bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode43/quiz.pdf

More on this language point:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode08/languagepoint.
shtml

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