Tear and desert
‘Tear’ and ‘desert’ are words that are pronounced differently to indicate their meaning. The noun tear, which is a drop of fluid from the eye, rhymes with the word dear.
‘She shed a tear when her cat died.’
But when we use ‘tear’ as a verb, meaning to rip, it's pronounced 'tear' and that rhymes with the word 'bear'.
‘Don't tear the book.’
The noun ‘desert’ means a barren dry, sandy and often lifeless place.
‘It rarely rains in the desert.’
But when the word ‘desert’ is used as a verb, meaning to run away, it's pronounced 'desert'.
‘Don't desert me, stay and help please.’
When it's spelt with two Ss ‘desert’ is used to describe the part of a meal that is often eaten after the main course. It usually consists of something sweet.
‘I don’t think I'll have any dessert thanks, I am already full.’
Flickr CC: Elisa Banfi
All content for Learn English is the property of Australia Plus and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Tear and desert
‘Tear’ and ‘desert’ are words that are pronounced differently to indicate their meaning. The noun tear, which is a drop of fluid from the eye, rhymes with the word dear.
‘She shed a tear when her cat died.’
But when we use ‘tear’ as a verb, meaning to rip, it's pronounced 'tear' and that rhymes with the word 'bear'.
‘Don't tear the book.’
The noun ‘desert’ means a barren dry, sandy and often lifeless place.
‘It rarely rains in the desert.’
But when the word ‘desert’ is used as a verb, meaning to run away, it's pronounced 'desert'.
‘Don't desert me, stay and help please.’
When it's spelt with two Ss ‘desert’ is used to describe the part of a meal that is often eaten after the main course. It usually consists of something sweet.
‘I don’t think I'll have any dessert thanks, I am already full.’
Flickr CC: Elisa Banfi
The final ‘s’ sounds in words can be confusing as there are three different ways that we can pronounce ‘s’ endings. Listen to the following three words and listen for the difference:
Cooks Earns Damages
There are slight differences here:
Cooks makes the /s/ sound. Cooks / cooks. Other examples are:
Checks
Graduates
Hates
Earns makes the /z/ sound. Earns / earns. Other examples are:
Boys
Girls
Hours
Messages makes the /iz/ sound. Messages / Messages. Other examples are:
Closes
Damages
Faces
Listen to the following examples of words ending with ‘s’ and Identify the correct sound. We will tell you if you are right or wrong:
wants
things
sandwiches
products
loves
places
paints
lives
phrases
Flickr CC: William Chew
Learn English
Tear and desert
‘Tear’ and ‘desert’ are words that are pronounced differently to indicate their meaning. The noun tear, which is a drop of fluid from the eye, rhymes with the word dear.
‘She shed a tear when her cat died.’
But when we use ‘tear’ as a verb, meaning to rip, it's pronounced 'tear' and that rhymes with the word 'bear'.
‘Don't tear the book.’
The noun ‘desert’ means a barren dry, sandy and often lifeless place.
‘It rarely rains in the desert.’
But when the word ‘desert’ is used as a verb, meaning to run away, it's pronounced 'desert'.
‘Don't desert me, stay and help please.’
When it's spelt with two Ss ‘desert’ is used to describe the part of a meal that is often eaten after the main course. It usually consists of something sweet.
‘I don’t think I'll have any dessert thanks, I am already full.’
Flickr CC: Elisa Banfi
