I've just been learning Chinese where the word ma can be pronounced in five ways with different meanings. The same applies to many English words.
few - opposite of many (but see my post under the grammar blog on few and a few)
phew - exclamation of surprise, often relief
peek - sneaky look, either quick or with half closed eyes or through a slit
peak - top of a mountain, often pointed
war - country declares war, so every national and citizen is obliged to fight against those of another country, used metaphorically for a serious battle
wore - past tense of wear
wear - to put clothes or jewellery or hats on your body
where - place where, question where?
ware - be aware, beware - to be alert, watch out for, and notice, or be prepared for, especially danger (beware of the dog - notice often seen on gates or doors)
wary - adjective, describing a person or object - he was wary of ... the child / dog was wary of strangers
warily - adverb - a verb is a doing word, an adverbs adds - warily: walk / proceed warily (eg we stepped warily from one stepping stone to the next along the stream which was quickly turning into a raging river
weir - barrier for water - the water often flows over, through and under
we're - short form or contraction for we are
whore - pronounced h o r e as in horse, old-fashioned word for prostitute or woman of loose morals who sleeps with anybody either for money or fun. Beware of saying my whores (pronounced hors) when you mean my horse. When you say horse you hiss at the end of the word, like a snake. Whores is like h o r z, ending like a bumble bee sound. I sat through a speech in Singapore when a man talked about his h o r e s. I had been daydreaming for a moment and came back to the speech. Something about the English liking whores? Was he talking about short skirts or morals? Surely not? Was it humorous speech? He continued. The hobby of the English - the whore's tail, feeding the whores, the expense of the whores, reading about whores, eating the whores, liking pets, no whores in Singapore, - whores racing; eventually I realised that it was a horse.
hors d'ouvre - the french drop the last letter of many words. The h at the start is silent. Hors is pronounced or.
Angela Lansbury, BA Hons, ACG, CL, author and English teacher and tutor at home and on Skype.
few - opposite of many (but see my post under the grammar blog on few and a few)
phew - exclamation of surprise, often relief
peek - sneaky look, either quick or with half closed eyes or through a slit
peak - top of a mountain, often pointed
war - country declares war, so every national and citizen is obliged to fight against those of another country, used metaphorically for a serious battle
wore - past tense of wear
wear - to put clothes or jewellery or hats on your body
where - place where, question where?
ware - be aware, beware - to be alert, watch out for, and notice, or be prepared for, especially danger (beware of the dog - notice often seen on gates or doors)
wary - adjective, describing a person or object - he was wary of ... the child / dog was wary of strangers
warily - adverb - a verb is a doing word, an adverbs adds - warily: walk / proceed warily (eg we stepped warily from one stepping stone to the next along the stream which was quickly turning into a raging river
weir - barrier for water - the water often flows over, through and under
we're - short form or contraction for we are
whore - pronounced h o r e as in horse, old-fashioned word for prostitute or woman of loose morals who sleeps with anybody either for money or fun. Beware of saying my whores (pronounced hors) when you mean my horse. When you say horse you hiss at the end of the word, like a snake. Whores is like h o r z, ending like a bumble bee sound. I sat through a speech in Singapore when a man talked about his h o r e s. I had been daydreaming for a moment and came back to the speech. Something about the English liking whores? Was he talking about short skirts or morals? Surely not? Was it humorous speech? He continued. The hobby of the English - the whore's tail, feeding the whores, the expense of the whores, reading about whores, eating the whores, liking pets, no whores in Singapore, - whores racing; eventually I realised that it was a horse.
hors d'ouvre - the french drop the last letter of many words. The h at the start is silent. Hors is pronounced or.
Angela Lansbury, BA Hons, ACG, CL, author and English teacher and tutor at home and on Skype.
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