'Doctor! I think I鈥檓 shrinking. I鈥檓 getting smaller!' 'Well, first you will have to calm down and learn to be a little patient.'
A question from Sokhom in Cambodia:
What is the difference between a homophone and a homonym?
Gareth Rees answers
Click to listen to Gareth's answer:
Hello Sokhom. Thank you for your question concerning two terms connected to pronunciation and spelling, namely homophones and homonyms.
I'll start with homophones. These are words which have the same pronunciation but which are different in both spelling and meaning. Listen to the following two examples and identify the homophones.
I was amazed that I knew the answer to every question in the test.
I bought a new car yesterday. Would you like to see it?
So, the homophones are 'knew', spelt K-N-E-W and meaning that I had the knowledge of something, and 'new', spelt N-E-W and meaning the opposite of old. Here are a few other homophones: meet, spelt M-E-E-T or M-E-A-T; road, spelt R-O-A-D and R-O-D-E; bean, spelt B-E-A-N and B-E-E-N.
Homonyms also have the same sound, but they also have the same spelling. Only the meaning is different. Identify the homonyms in these examples.
When I was camping in the forest I saw a brown bear, which actually rather scared me.
I can鈥檛 bear that noise anymore. I鈥檓 going to call the police!
The homonyms are bear, spelt B-E-A-R, with the first meaning an animal that looks cute but is really rather dangerous, and the second meaning to tolerate something. Other examples of homonyms include fair, patient and coach.
Just to finish, I鈥檇 like to say that homophones and homonyms often form the basis of simple jokes, because they allow a play on words. That is, one sound may have two meanings, and this may create a joke. In case, I鈥檓 not making myself clear, here are a few examples. I hope you find them funny.
Waiter, waiter, what鈥檚 this?
It鈥檚 bean soup.
I don鈥檛 care what it was, I want to know what it is now!
John is so stupid. He thinks a tennis coach has four wheels.
Well, how many wheels does it have?
Doctor! Help me quickly! I think I鈥檓 shrinking. I鈥檓 getting smaller! Help me.
Well, first you will have to calm down and learn to be a little patient.
About Gareth Rees
Gareth Rees has a BA (hons) in History and Philosophy of Science, CTEFLA, and DELTA. He has taught EFL, EAP and Business English in China, Spain and England, and he is the co-author of the Language Leader Elementary and Pre-Intermediate English language course books (Pearson Longman). He currently teaches English in the Language Centre at the University of the Arts, London.
