Confusing confusions

One of the most common remarks we hear from our students is how generally confusing English can be many times. “There are soooo many exceptions!!!”, they always say….”The pronunciation can be so strange at times!” is another common complaint…”Why sooo many irregular verbs????!!!”, is yet another favorite…

All true…

 We agree…

We apologise…

…but it really isn´t our fault…

The VERY BEST solution we can think of is also the simplest, most effective and definitely the CHEAPEST solution for ANYBODY: EXPOSE YOURSELF MORE TO ENGLISH!!!!

By this, we mean:

Read more English.

Listen to more English.

Only then will one be able to:

Speak more English.

That aside, we still DO agree that the language has its little areas of confusion. Like, you do realize that many verbs are also nouns, and vice-versa. The only thing that differentiates them and makes their role clear in a sentence is where the stress syllable is. Look at a few examples below. Can you tell the difference between the word used as a verb and as a noun in each sentence?

1)    The farm was used to produce produce.

2)    The dumpsite was so full that they had to refuse more refuse.

3)    The soldier decided to desert the army in the desert.

4)    It´s time to present the present.

5)    I did not object to the object.

6)    The insurance policy was invalid for the invalid.

7)    I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

Here is how each of the words in bold should be pronounced to make the sentence have any sense:

1)    The first “produce” is a noun which means “agricultural products, with the stress on the first syllable.  The second “produce” is the verb with the stress on the second syllable.

2)    The first “refuse”, with the stress on the second syllable, means to not accept, while the second “refuse”, with the stress on the first syllable, is just another word for trash or garbage.

3)    The first “desert”, with the stress on the second syllable, is a verb that means to abandon and stop supporting something, while the second “desert”, with the stress on the first syllable, is the noun used for a vast, arid place.

1. 4)    The first “present”, stress on the second syllable, is a verb which means to give something to someone in a formal way. The second “present”, stress on the first syllable, is another word for “gift”.

5)    The first “object”, stress on the second syllable, means to express a contrary idea in the form of a protest, while the second “object”, stress on the first syllable, is a noun that means a tangible thing.

6)    The first “invalid”, with the stress on “va” is an adjective that means “not valid”, while the second “invalid”, with the stress on “in” means a person suffering from a physical handicap.

7)    The first “subject”, stress on the second syllable is a verb which means to force or cause someone or something to undergo a procedure, while the second “subject”, stress on the first syllable, is a noun which means the person being described.

Then, there are also the dreaded Heteronyms, i.e. words that are spelled (spelt) the same but have different pronunciation as well as definition. Look at a few examples below. Can you pronounce each word in bold correctly and would you know the meaning of each?

1)    There was a row in the first row of the theater.

2)    The wind will blow very strong and the rooftops will wind up in the river.

3)    The tailor hired a new sewer who got drunk and fell into the sewer.

4)    The farmer fed his sow when he went out to sow.

5)    I saw a tear in her eye when she noticed a tear in her stockings.

Here´s how the words in these five sentences are supposed to be pronounced:

1)    The first row should rhyme with “now” and the second row should rhyme with “so”.

2) The “I” in the first wind should sound like the “I” in “sing”, while the second wind should rhyme with “dined”.

3) The first sewer should rhyme with “blower”, while the second sewer should rhyme with “newer”.

4) The first sow (which means female pig) should rhyme with “now” , while the second sow (which means to plant seeds) should rhyme with “so” .

5) The first tear should rhyme with “near”, while the second tear should rhyme with “there”.

So there. We hope this little bit helps!!!