English words that look similar but sound totally different 🫣😳

Hello everyone. How are you? Welcome to our live class. Every few weeks I'm going live instead of just sharing a video. So today is one of those days where I go live and I teach you something and then I get to answer questions, interact with you. So I'm excited about today. And as you can see here, it's like on the other side because the image is mirrored. As you can see today, we are going to talk about lookalike words. Look alike. Look alike. That's a good word to practice. And as people are joining me because it takes a little bit of time, from the moment we get started, I'm going to tell you what that is. But. But before that, if you are new to me and you just came across my video, my live with that rocky start that I had, then let me tell you about myself. My name is Hadar. I'm a non native speaker of English and my mission in this world is to help you, my friend, speak English with clarity, confidence and freedom. Okay? I focus a lot on pronunciation because that is what has helped me develop my confidence and fluency and I love it dearly. I think it's really important. But I also talk about strategy and mindset and effective practice so you get all of that. If you are not subscribed to my channel, now is the time. I also have a podcast called the In Fluency Podcast and I also have a free community on Facebook where you can practice your English with live videos or with recorded videos and in conversation groups. We have a speaking club almost daily where you can join and it's absolutely free practice groups, we offer lessons there. Have I said that it's absolutely free? If you're not a member of the influency community then I'm going to link to it in the description below. So make sure after this live you come back and you click on it or just look for the influency community on Facebook. I hope to see you there. And now, my friends, let's talk about lookalike words. What are lookalike words? What are lookalike words? It's not the official definition. So lookalike words are similar words that they look the same because of the spelling. So there is like one small thing that is different that gets people to confuse those words and use them, especially in writing, but also in pronunciation. So they may see a word and it may look to them like another word and then they would use the wrong pronunciation. So I selected a few different lookalike words to practice. Today we're going to talk about the definition of each word, of course, the pronunciation of each word. And then we're going to practice it in sentences. Are you ready? If you are watching this live or watching the recording, clear out the next 20, 30 minutes, it's a really effective mini lesson, that is that I have no doubt you are going to benefit from. Now, let me just make sure that I find the right way to share this. Okay? This is good, right? Common lookalikes. The first one is this. Now, I want you to say it out loud to yourself before we get started. How would you say it in the meantime? I'm reading comments and I read a really nice comment. I master R sound from you. There's nothing that makes me happier than reading such comments, just so you know. All right. How would you pronounce these two words? Do they sound the same? So the answer is no, they do not sound the same. The first one is lose, and the second one is loose. So it's kind of similar, but not. Let's talk about the differences. One has one O, the other has two O's. It doesn't matter because both of them have the same vowel sound. Listen. Loose, lose. Let's start with the first one. To lose something. Lose is to not win. I lost the game in the past. To lose is not to win. To stop having something or not to find. Okay, Lose. I'm not going to lose my keys again. I'm not going to lose the game. Right. I'm going to be ahead of the game. Lose. Okay, let's practice it in a sentence. Or before that, let's talk about the pronunciation. Because. Because this is why we're here. For what we're here for. We start with an L sound. Then it's the tense oo, as in food loo. Right? The thing about the oo in English, that it's a continuous sound and you. It kind of like forms up as you pronounce it. Oo, oo, loo, loo, loo. And then you end it with a Z sound. So you want to make sure that there are vibrations here. You can feel it, vibration vibrating here. Not loose, lose. If you are, let's say, a Spanish speaker, it's going to be hard for you to keep that Z sound at the end. But it's important because otherwise it's going to sound like the other word, which you will see. The other word is loose. Loose, loose. How would you use your hands to express loose? Loose is not attached or tied tightly or at all. Right? My belt is loose or one of the Screws is loose. The pronunciation here is L. OO So it's the same beginning. And then loose. Loose. The screws are loose. Right? You have to be a little bit more loose. Loose. Lose. And loose. Can you hear the difference? The only difference is the sound at the end. Right? Lose. Loose. And if you devoice that Z sound, it's going to sound like the other word. If you tie a loose knot, the rope might lose its hold. Try to create a sentence with both words. If you tie a loose knot, it's not very tight. The rope might lose its hold. Okay, good. Next one. Say these two words out loud. Suit. Sweet. The only difference is that E at the end, but that changes everything. Suit. Sweet. Suit. Sweet. Okay, so here it's a bit more different. So a suit. You wear a suit. Right. It's a set of matching clothes. Usually more formal. Right. She's wearing a black suit. So your jacket matches your pants. A suit. Suit. S OO you can pop it or you can hold it. Technically, in American English, generally the T at the end is held. Suit. But it's not a mistake if you pop it. Suit. If that's easier for you. There are some dialects that you would hear the T where you would hear the T popped at the end. Suit. Okay. That's the tense OO sound after an S and then a T. Sweet. Notice that here we added the sound. That's the W sound after the s. S.W. s.W. Sweet. So if for the suit we had a tense Ooh. Here we have a tense E. A high front vowel sound. Sweet. A set of expensive rooms in a hotel. I would like to book a suite on my next. Next vacation. We took the honeymoon. Honeymoon suite. We took the honeymoon suite. Sweet. Compare them. Suit, Sweet. Suit, Sweet. Can you hear the difference? They look similar, but they sound different. I forgot my bathing suit in the suite. I forgot my bathing suit in the suite. Good. What about this one? Would you pronounce it differently? And yes, Susanna, it does sound exactly like sweet. I have a sweet tooth. Sweet. The cake is too sweet. Okay, good. But it's spelled differently. So here the first word is breath. Breath. And the second word is breathe. Right. So it's the same root. But here we have a noun and a verb. So breath is the process of breathing. Heavy Breath. Breath. A heavy breath. I'm breathing heavily right now. An amount of air that. That you take into your lung. Lungs. Either you take okay. Breath. I take a deep breath and jumped into the pool. Release your breath. Take a breath. I took a deep breath. And jumped into the pool. So here we have a br cluster, as in red, breath, and then the th sound. Voiceless breath. So that means that I'm just releasing air between the tongue and teeth that creates this friction sound. This is this voiceless th. Breath. Breathe is a different word. And that's the verb. That's the act of taking air into the lungs and to let it out again. That is to breathe. The e at the end suggests that actually the. The vowel before is a tense e sound. Breathe. But also notice that here. Breathe. Can you hear the difference between the first th on the second th? Breathe. Breath, breathe. It's like the difference between S and z and v and V. This is a voice th and it's the voiceless. The voice pair of the voiceless th. Breathe. For the word breathe, we definitely want to use the voice th so we don't confuse it. I can breathe in here. I probably wouldn't want to say I can breathe in here because it might sound like you're confusing it. Okay. Breath. Breathe. And yes, the ea spelling pattern could be pronounced as e. Could be pronounced as e. Right? Like bread and no, like red. And read, for example, take a deep breath and then breathe out. Take a deep breath and then breathe out. Okay, what about this pair? They look very similar, and they actually sound kind of similar too. For some people more than others, but still. Okay, so here we have desert. Desert. Dessert. Desert. Dessert. Desert is a noun. Desert. Where the stress is on the first syllable. De. De. You go to the desert. It's a place, a dry area of land with few plants and a lot of sand and rocks or rocks. Desert. Let's go to the desert. Okay, we got lost in the desert. Desert. Remember, the secret here is the stress. The stress here is on the first syllable. Tada, ta, da, tara. This word is refers to sweet food served after the main part of the meal. Dessert. Where's the primary stress here? Dessert stress is on the second syllable. Now, some people might even pronounce the first syllable with a schwa. Dessert. Dessert. And that is because the lacks in American English only in unstressed syllables where it's not the primary stress. Here the primary stress is on the zert. It often changes to a schwa, reduces to a schwa, which is a neutral unstressed vowel sound. Dessert. The second syllable has the er, as in stir sound. So it's kind of like a stressed schwa with an r altogether kind of like cooked together, mixed together. Dessert. I had ice cream for dessert. I had ice cream for dessert. Dessert. Dessert. Desert. Dessert. Desert. Dessert. Desert. Dessert. We enjoyed a delicious dessert in the desert. I could have confused it right now it looks so similar. We've. We've enjoyed a delicious dessert in the desert. Okay, so two S's. Stress is on the second syllable. And that's the dessert, the sweet thing that you eat. Okay, good. Conscious, Conscious and conscience. Look at these two words. It's getting harder as we move forward. Okay, Conscious or conscious. Some people will not pronounce the ch sound conscious. I pronounce it with a ch sound, so that's how I'm going to teach it. But you'll hear various pronunciations of this one and conscience. So the difference is with that n. But look at the words. They kind of like, look overwhelmingly the same, right? Overwhelmingly the same. So the first one, it might be a good vocabulary lesson as well. For those of you who don't know what this means. To be conscious means to be aware of things. Okay, I'm conscious that I often make mistakes, right? I'm conscious that I often make mix. Make mistakes. Aware of things. Also, I was conscious but could not speak. Someone who's not conscious is someone who has passed out. For example, consciousness Conscious or conscious? Conscious, whatever is easier for you. Okay, two syllables. The first syllable is the stressed one. We have the oz and father, con and then chis. Conscious. Now this is conscience. So you're only adding the end. The stress is still on the first syllable. Same vowel within the first syllable. Conscience is your moral sense of right and wrong, right? In good conscience. You might hear this phrase a lot. We faced him with a clear conscience. That means that, you know, I know that I was doing the right thing, right? Like I. I know the difference between right and wrong, right? I didn't that. Like, that is the idea. And I think that this is such a charged word for so many people, right? I have, you know, I can't do it. I can't do it. Like, I have this sense of conscience, right? Conscience. Your moral sense of right and wrong. Now let's compare it. Conscious conscience. Conscious conscience. Conscious conscience. I'm conscious of my guilty conscience. So I'm aware right now that I have guilty conscience, right? I feel guilty, right? I know that something's off with within my, you know, like deciding what's right and what's wrong. Conscious conscience. Good. What about this one? And by the way, can you now choose a word either with a. Either conscious or conscience and write a sentence in the comments with one of those words? Conscious or conscience? As I'm moving On to the next one. So now we're going to talk about accept, expect, and accept. But I'm going to teach it a little differently right now. So I'm going to first talk about this word. This word is technically accept, with an a, as in cat, ack. And then primary stress is on the second syllable, sept, accept. But wait until the end of this explanation to understand how you really pronounce it. Okay? Because it's not. It's not over here. It's not over yet. Accept. To accept is to agree to something or take something that is offered to you. Right? I accept your apology. I'm going to accept your gift. I'm willing to receive it. Accept. So technically, it's the as and cat, and then ack and then sept. This word is accept. So it's not accept. It's accept. Again, wait until the end. I'm not done. To accept or not to accept. Accept is used to introduce an exception to something that was stated before. Except for blah, blah, blah. We're open every day except Monday. I really like watching tv, except for when I'm really, really tired. I love ice cream. Except for vanilla ice cream. I just don't like that, which is not true. I really do like vanilla ice cream. Okay, except it's an exception. Now, while technically both of them have different vowels at the beginning, accept and accept. First of all, they're very similar to a lot of. A lot of ears. They sound. It's eh versus a. Okay, but still, there is a difference. However, this is an unstressed syllable, and in normal conversation, people just reduce the first syllable to a schwa. Just like I told you about the lax I sound that when it's unstressed, it's reduced. That's not the case with these vowels, but specifically with these two words, when people pronounce them, the beginning syllable is usually reduced to a schwa, except except. Okay, so we don't say, I'm going to accept your gift. You'll just hear, I'm going to accept your gift. Or I like all ice cream flavors except for. Except for vanilla. Right? Going to reduce it to a schwa. So technically, they both actually sound the same. They just have different meanings. Okay, except I accept all the terms except the last one. So let's practice pronouncing it the same. I accept all the terms except the last one. Now, expect. That's a little different, right? The sound order is different. To expect is to think or demand that something will happen. Right? I expect your full cooperation. I expect to succeed. In this test, I expect her to be there when I show up. Expect. So we have accept and expect. Accept, expect, and accept. Okay. And the IPA here is confused. So please ignore the IPA here because I needed to switch them. I accept. Wait. I accept the fact that I expect all of us to be there except you. Okay, good. Give me a sec. I'm going to make sense of it. This is how it is in a live class. I want to make sure that you see it fully. So I'm going to move one. I'll tell you what I did in a second. Okay, I'm going to bring it back. Wait, it's going to go back to any questions. In the meantime, let me know if you have questions and let me share the screen again. Lovely. All right, so as you can see, accept. Expect. The beginning is not a schwa. Before it was the other way around. This is what I changed. Expect, Accept. Okay, I accept the fact that I expect all of us to be there except you. So write down a sentence with one or two of the words that I shared here. Except. Except, expect, and accept. This is a really good practice. Okay, Vocabulary practice. Wonderful. Let's see. Okay, let's do this. Moving on. The lookalikest of them all. Look at all these words. Let's talk about all these different yet similar looking words. So we have tough, though. Through thought, taught and thorough. Don't worry, I'll explain one by one, but let's do it together. Just follow me. Repeat after me. Tough though. Through thought, taught and thorough. Good. So tough, hard, harsh. Don't be so tough. Right? Not soft, tough. And though. Though. Despite. Though he looked a little tough though, right? He looked a little tough though. Hold on. Good. Tough thought. Now we mark this with the ah, as in father. This is how would you. You would hear it pronounced in North America, especially the West Coast. Sometimes people might pronounce it with more rounded lips. Thought. That's also okay. Whatever works for you. It's not thoat. It's not a changing vowel. So keep that in mind. So tough thought. Tough thought. And this is funny because it's kind of like. Okay, the gh is pronounced completely different here. One is an f and the other one is in existent. Doesn't sound like anything. Right. The first T is a T. So that's okay. The ou in this word is a cup sound. Tough, tough, which is like a stressed schwa. So the mouth is a bit more open. There's more emphasis here. Tough, tough versus thought. Right. So here we have a th. But that's okay. We can tell by the spelling. But then the ou is an open ah sound or ah sound. Right? And then we end with a T. Thought. Tough. Thought. Thought. I thought you were tough. I thought you were tough. What a terrible sentence to say to someone. Okay, though thought. So here as well. The ou, gh. The gh technically is silent. So the vowel is represented by the ough, which represents the O as in go. And the th is a, the sound, a voiced th. Remember that we talked about the voiced and voiceless. So this is a voiced th, though, Though. Though. And thought. So this is a voiceless th. And the second word, thought. And then we end it with a t. It's worth a thought, though, right? Let's practice it together. It's worth a thought, though, right? Good. Now, as we are doing this, I want you to think, because we have a few more examples, and then I'm going to go to answering questions. As we're doing this, I want you to think about other similar words that you might be struggling with, and I'm going to use them as an example to teach you about lookalike words or similar words. All right? So here we have thought and taught. They are very similar. They even rhyme. So here the spelling represents the same vowel. Could be more rounded. Ought. And remember that the T, you can pop it at the end. You can hold it at the end because it's a held t thought. It's an abrupt stop of air. But if you pop it, you'll still sound clear. And of course, there are people, native speakers as well, who might pop the T at the end. Thought. Taught. So the only difference is the beginning sound. Th versus T. T, T Thought. Taught. Notice that when we pronounce the t at the beginning of a word before a vowel, then the T is aspirated. So it feels like there is a little h right after taught. Taught. Can you hear it? Taught. We don't have that in thought. Here. The th is just one fricative sound. Okay, what about this? So the first word is though, voice th, Then o as in go. And then we have through. So there we have again the O, U, G, H. But here it represents the tense oo sound though, through. Though. Through. Because if we can confuse even more, then why not? Even though she was tired, she pushed through and succeeded. Now a quick tip about the thr pronunciation. You stick the tongue out for the th, and then you pull in the tongue for the r th. Try not to touch the upper palate on the way in. Just try to pull it in directly. And that would make the transition smoother and easier for you. Thur. Th. Okay. Even though she was tired, she pushed through and succeeded. And now we have through and say it. What is the difference? So the first word is one syllable. Thr tense. Oo Through. Right. The second word has an additional syllable, so it's thorough. Thorough. It has an o as in go at the end. Okay. So here it's not thorough. I might have led you to think that that is, but it's not. It's thor. Row. Th row. So the first syllable is the stir sound. Th row. Or you can just pronounce it with a schwa Row. Thorough. Thorough. Thorough. Or cup sound because it's stressed Thorough. So through. And either thorough. So the R takes over the vowel. Or thorough. Okay, she was thorough through every step. Thorough. Through. Good. Very nice, everyone. Now, I see that there are a lot of good examples in the chat, so I'm going to go ahead and teach you some additional words that you might struggle with. And by the way, if you haven't been to my website just yet, definitely go check it out, hadarshemish.com because you will find a ton of free resources for you over there to practice English and speak with clarity and confidence. So it's not a lookalike word necessarily. But let's talk about the pronunciation because we have the ough here. Here it represents the ah sound or ah as in father. Brought. Just like thought and taught. Brought. Okay, good. Yardman is asking for lost and. And last. So the first one is the as and father, just like I taught you when we talked about the word thought. Ah, Thought. Lost. L, L, A s lost. And the second word is last. A as in cat. La la. Last. Lost. Last. Lost. Last. Okay, good. Let's see if we have more questions. Throw is very similar in how it sounds too Thorough. Thorough. But it has this additional syllable for the thorough. Throw it away. You have to be more thorough. Throw. Thorough. Throw. Thorough. I like this. Let's practice it, though. This tough guy thought of himself as a boss. Hadar taught him a lesson thoroughly through a year. Good. That's a nice tongue Twister. You get 10 points. Okay. Okay. This is another good pair. Throw. And throat. Can you hear the difference if I. If I use the held t at the end, it sounds really similar. Let's do it again. Throw. Throat. Now you can pop the T. Throat. Fine. But a lot of times this is what you're going to hear. Throat. It's an abrupt stop of air that makes it sound like you're stopping the O sound a little too soon. And then, you know there is a T there. Throw. Fade out into the sound. Throw. Throat. It's also shorter when it ends with a T. The vowel is shorter. Throw throat. I'm going to clear my throat and throw away the tissue. Going to clear my throat and throw away the tissue. Okay. Yeah. So this is the example where these are two similar words in their pronunciation. Sweet and sweet. Right. They're not different. Ooh. Good. All right, my friends, thank you so much for joining me today. I am so grateful that you shared the last, what is it, 30 minutes with me and on your mission to speak English with clarity, confidence, and freedom. I'm glad to be of service. Go check out my website@hadar shemesh.com There are a lot of free resources and lessons waiting for you there. And if you are not following me on social media, then you can find me on Instagram at Hadar Accentsway. And I also have a podcast. So if you're a podcast lover, check out the Influency podcast so you can get my weekly content and my relocation diaries to your favorite platform. And you don't always have to be on YouTube, even though YouTube is great. Don't, don't tell anyone that I recommended podcasts on my YouTube channel. But it's true. I prefer podcasts. I have to say podcasts and audiobooks. I'm an audible learner. All right, my friends, thank you so, so much. Have a beautiful, beautiful rest of the day. I appreciate you. Take care and I'll see you soon. By.