How to pronounce Oprah vs. Opera

19 May 2023 · 1 min

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0:36

Short YouTube clip (Hadar Shemesh) teaching the pronunciation difference between the proper name 'Oprah' and the common noun 'opera'. The speaker contrasts vowel sounds (long O in 'Oprah' vs. ah/shorter vowel in 'opera'), demonstrates the consonant ending 'pr', and invites viewers to suggest other confusing word pairs in the comments.

Chapters

How would you distinguish between the following two? What if we talk about Oprah Winfrey? You want to start with a long O, as in go O, and then finish it with pr. Pr Pr. O Pru. If you're talking about going to the opera, then you start with an ah sound and then you finish it with pr. Pr Pr Oprah opera. Oprah opera O ah, o, ah. What other confusing pairs can you think of? Let me know in the comments.