Neil Hello and welcome to 6 Minute Vocabulary. I’m Neil.
Sophie And I’m Sophie. Hi, Neil, I’ve got a question for you.
Neil OK…
Sophie What’s black and white and read all over?
Neil What’s black and white, and red all over? I don’t know that. Go on, tell me…
Sophie A newspaper.
Neil Oh – I see… so it wasn't the colour red, but read [/red/] as in the past form of read [/ri:d/]. White paper, black writing and the ‘read all over’ bit means people read it. Very good, Sophie. You should go into comedy.
Sophie I’m not too sure about that, Neil. Sorry for the bad joke everyone, but words that sound the same but have different meanings is actually our topic for today’s show.
Neil That’s right – homophones, words that sound the same but have different spellings and different meanings… Let’s listen to Mark and Jane.
Sophie Mark’s just had an accident in the kitchen.
Neil And here’s a question for you to think about while you listen: what has Mark got on his jeans?
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Jane What’s wrong, Mark? You look really angry.
Mark What’s wrong, Jane?! Can’t you see? I’ve got flour all over my jeans.
Jane You’ve got a flower on your jeans? I didn’t know you liked pretty things…
Mark Not a flower, Jane. Flour! Look.
Jane Ahh, Mark! You’re making me a birthday cake. Ahh…
Neil So, that’s Mark and Jane.
Sophie And we asked you what Mark had got on his jeans.
Neil And of course, the answer was flour. The kind of flour you use to make bread and cakes. And flour is spelt f-l-o-u-r.
Sophie Jane thought it was a different kind of flower, f-l-o-w-e-r, the brightly coloured and sweet-smelling plant you might have in your garden.
Neil That’s right, flour, f-l-o-u-r, and flower, f-l-o-w-e-r, are homophones – words that sound the same, but have different spellings and different meanings. Now, homophones can be difficult to learn, and the reason is because they sound exactly the same.
Sophie That’s right. And here are some more examples…
Neil Mail, m-a-i-l, meaning letters and parcels you send in the post, and male, m-a-l-e, the opposite of female.
Sophie And here’s another one: right, r-i-g-h-t, the opposite of left, and write, w-r-i-t-e, like write a letter.
Neil Here’s one: peace, p-e-a-c-e, when it’s quiet and calm, and piece, p-i-e-c-e, a part of something – a piece of cake!
Sophie And one more: tail, t-a-i-l, the long, narrow part that sticks out of the back of an animal's body and tale, t-a-l-e, a kind of story. What’s your favourite fairy tale, Neil?
Neil Well, I really like The Emperor’s New Clothes. I think it’s really relevant still today. Even for grown-ups.
Sophie It’s a great story.
IDENT You’re listening to bbclearningenglish.com.
Neil And we’re talking about homophones.
Sophie That’s words which are spelt differently and have different meanings, but sound the same.
Neil And now it’s time for a quiz. I’m going to read a sentence with one of the homophones from today’s show. Try to spell the word correctly as you listen and Sophie will tell you the answers afterwards.
Sophie Good luck!
Neil Are you ready? Number one. Ben gave his girlfriend a flower for Valentine’s Day. Now how do you spell flower there?
Sophie Unless she wanted to bake bread, he gave her a flower, f-l-o-w-e-r.
Neil Correct. Well done if you got that one right. Number two. The dog is wagging its tail. How do you spell tail?
Sophie This is part of an animal’s body, so it’s t-a-i-l.
Neil And well done if you got that one at home. Finally: The postman put the letters on the table on the right. How do you spell right?
Sophie The table’s on the right, not on the left, so it’s r-i-g-h-t.
Neil Well done to everyone at home who got those right.
Sophie And that almost brings us to the end of the programme. But before we go, here’s today’s top tip for learning vocabulary. Homophones are difficult to spell correctly when you hear them because they sound the same. So, if you think a word might be a homophone, read or listen to the words around it very carefully. That will help you get a better idea what word it is and how to spell it.
Neil There’s more about homophones at bbclearningenglish.com. Join us again for more 6 Minute Vocabulary.
Both Bye! __________________________________
Session Vocabulary
red the colour. 'I bought a red dress to wear at the party.'
read the past of read. 'I read that book last year.'
flour the main ingredient in bread. 'I need half a kilo of flour for this recipe'.
flower the brightly coloured and sweet-smelling part of a plant. 'My favourite flowers are roses.'
mail letters and parcels you send in the post. 'I haven't opened my mail yet.'
male the opposite of female. 'This hospital has separate male and female wards.'
right the opposite of left. 'Most people are right-handed.'
write write a letter. 'I write to my sister in America every week.'
peace quiet and calm. 'The war continued for several months while the peace agreement was finalised.'
piece a part of something. 'Would you like a piece of cake?'
tail the long, narrow part that sticks out of the back of an animal's body. 'Cats use their tails to help them balance.'
tale a kind of story. 'My favourite fairy tale is Sleeping Beauty.'