Today I would like to discuss some confusion between five pairs of words when it comes to their pronunciation. Pronouncing words correctly in English will not only make you sound more clear and eliminate confusion, but it will also make you more confident.
The confusion between the words I’m gonna discuss today comes from the fact that English has more vowels than many other languages and when we, nonnative speakers, hear a word with a vowel that doesn’t exist in our native language, we tend to interpret this vowel as a different one – the one that is the closest to the vowel we are familiar with.
1. Conform vs. Confirm
The first pair of words is conform /kənˈfɔːɹm/ and confirm /kənˈfɝːm/.
Conform means to comply with certain rules, standards, or laws. For example: “the kitchen doesn’t conform to hygiene regulations.”
Confirm means to establish the truth or correctness. For example: “I’d like to confirm my appointment for tomorrow morning.”
The first syllable of both words is pronounced the same way (/kən/). This syllable is unstressed and that’s why the vowel is reduced to a schwa /ə/ – the most relaxed and neutral vowel in English. To pronounce the schwa, slightly open your lips. Make sure that your tongue and lips are completely relaxed.
The second syllable in the first word conform is stressed and pronounced with /ɔː/ as in or /ɔːɹ/ and more /mɔːɹ/. This is a close-mid back vowel, which means that to pronounce it correctly, you need to pull the tongue backwards, keep the lips slightly open and rounded. Activate the voice and then raise the middle of the tongue a little for the American /ɹ/ sound that follows the /ɔː/. Press the sides of the tongue against the upper teeth and make sure that the tip of the tongue doesn’t touch anywhere.
The second syllable in confirm is also stressed but it is pronounced with the stir sound /ɝː/. It’s the same sound that we use in words like world /wɝːld/ and girl /ɡɝːl/. The stir sound almost takes over the vowel. It’s as though you want to connect both consonants without inserting a vowel.
In the case of confirm /kənˈfɝːm/, it would be like connecting the /f/ and the /ɹ/ together, like in [fɹ].
2. Course vs. Curse
The next pair of words is course /kɔːɹs/ and curse /kɝːs/.
A course is what you take in college or in the university. For example: “This semester I’m taking four courses.”
Curse is intended to invoke a supernatural punishment to inflict harm. For example: “She put a curse on him.”
These two words follow the same rules as we discussed earlier for conform /kənˈfɔːɹm/ and confirm /kənˈfɝːm/. Let’s first practice the word course /kɔːɹs/. When you pronounce the /ɔː/ remember to pull the tongue backwards and keep the lips slightly open and rounded.
And now the second word: curse /kɝːs/. Again, we have the stir sound /ɝː/ as in world /wɝːld/ and girl /ɡɝːl/. When you pronounce it, remember that the stir sound almost takes over the vowel. So, you want to connect the first /k/ sound with the /ɹ/ sound: [kɹ].
And remember that in the University you take a course – not a curse 😅.
3. Bored vs. Bird
The next pair is bored /bɔːɹd/ and bird /bɝːd/.
Bored is the feeling you get when you have nothing interesting to do. For example, you can say “Gosh, I am so bored.”
Bird is a flying animal. For example: “I love looking at the birds in the park.” or “Look at this beautiful bird.” These two words follow the same pattern as in the first two pairs conform /kənˈfɔːɹm/ and confirm /kənˈfɝːm/ and course /kɔːɹs/ and curse /kɝːs/.
When you practice bored, remember that it has the /ɔː/ as in or /ɔːɹ/ and more /mɔːɹ/. Don’t forget to round the lips: /bɔːɹd/.
Bird on the other hand has the stir sound /ɝː/ – the sound that comes in words like third /θɝːd/, world /wɝːld/, girl /ɡɝːl/, and blurred /blɝːd/.
Last week I heard a nonnative speaker saying, “I am bird”, and that’s how I got inspired to share this pair of words. Of course, I understood what he’d meant, but it still took me a few seconds.
4. Low vs. Law
The next pair is low /loʊ/ as in “I got a low grade in my math test” vs. law /lɑː/, /lɒː/ as in “I’m going to law school.”
These two words can also cause confusion if you mispronounce them. Once I heard someone saying that he’d gone to low school while he’d meant law school. It can be quite funny because having a law degree definitely means you’ve completed higher education – not low education.
The vowel in law /lɑː/, /lɒː/ is the same as the vowel in the word caught /kɑːt/, /kɒːt/ as in the past tense of catch. You need to pull the tongue back and drop your jaw. There is a little deviation in the pronunciation of law depending on the state. In some states – for example on the east coast – people round their lips a little when they pronounce this vowel (/ɒː/). In other states, like in California, where I live the vowel sounds more like /ɑː/ as in father /ˈfɑː.ðɚ/. But regardless, the lips need to stay open. Don’t get confused by the spelling with the w and don’t close your lips at the end.
The word low /loʊ/ is pronounced with the diphthong /oʊ/. A diphthong is two vowels merged together within the same syllable. In this case we have /o/ followed by /ʊ/.
To pronounce low /loʊ/, open your mouth, round your lips, and drop the jaw a little. The jaw is not as open as in the word law /lɑː/, /lɒː/, but it’s somewhere in the middle. After pronouncing /o/ close your lips for /ʊ/ while still engaging your vocal cords.
Remember, if you went to law school, you are a highly educated person. Don’t tell people that you went to low school because someone might think that you didn’t even go to high school.
5. Off vs. Of
The last two words I’m going to discuss in this post are confusing because they can appear in the same sentence. And they are off /ɑːf/, /ɒːf/ and of /ʌv/.
Off normally functions as an adverb or a preposition but it can also function as an adjective. Of, on the other hand is a preposition.
Some nonnative speakers think that the difference is only in the spelling and they pronounce these two words the same way. But actually, the vowel in off is different from the vowel in of.
Off is pronounced with the vowel /ɑː/ as in father /ˈfɑː.ðɚ/. The same vowel that we had in one of the previous words – law /lɑː/.
The vowel in of, on the other hand, if stressed is the cup sound /ʌ/, the same as in the word cup /kʌp/. But if of is unstressed, the vowel is reduced to a schwa /ə/ – the most relaxed and neutral vowel in English. To pronounce the schwa /ə/, slightly open your lips. Make sure that your tongue and lips are completely relaxed.
An important detail to know is that the consonant in of is either pronounced as /v/ or it’s completely dropped. For example, I can say “I want a cup /əv/ coffee” or “I want a cup /ə/ coffee.”
But sometimes these two words can appear in the same sentence and then it can be a bit confusing. For example, “Take this off of my hands.” /ɑːf ʌv/, not /ɑːf ɑːf/.
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Let me know in the comments if you ever made some of these pronunciation mistakes. /ʌv/ these pronunciation mistakes, not /ɑːf/ these pronunciation mistakes 😉.
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