ESL Blogs

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01. The bandage was wound around the wound.

02. The farm was used to produce produce.

03. The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

04. We must polish the Polish furniture.

05. He could lead if he would get the lead out.

06. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

07. Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to to...present the present.

08. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

09. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10. I did not object to the object.

11. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12. There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13. They were too close to the door to close it.

14. The buck does funny things when does are present.

15. A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

18. After a number of injections my jaw got number.

19. Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

20. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

21. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

22. The accountant at the music store records records of the records.

* I first saw these sentences on Aija's facebook page. Thank you, Aija!

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Homograph

A homograph is a word that is spelled like another word but has a different meaning from it. In addition to these two, it may have the same pronunciation or a different one.

Note: Our dearest Hala has posted a slide show that shows the differences between 'Homographs' and 'Homophones'. Personally, I find it very interesting and useful. Thanks Hala! To watch the slide show, please click HERE.  

Challenge

Record your reading of the above twenty-two sentences and share the audio file with us. You can use AudioPal to do the recording! If you have never recorded your voice or embedded an audio player on a web page before, you can learn how to do them HERE..

Every person who reads the sentences with correct pronunciation stands the chance to win a beautiful virtual plaque with his/her name inscribed on it!

You  can  find  the  list of  participants  who  have won the challenge, along with the plaques, in another blog specially dedicated to the winners!   

Activity

Do you know any other homographs? Let us compile a list of them for the benefit of everybody. Here's how you could contribute:

1. Choose a pair of homographs. Post them here along with their meanings, then write two separate sentences with a homograph in each sentence. Finally, add a note saying whether the homographs are pronounced the same way. If they have different pronunciations, please record them for us.

2. If you would like to contribute a second pair of homographs, please feel free to do so! You can post it once the next contributor has posted his/her pair of homographs. There's no limit to the number of homographs that you would like to share. The more the better!

[An 'Afterthought': Share with us at least one pair of homographs every day. But if you choose to post more than one pair in a day, that would be EXCELLENT! Also, I've set a target for us! It's to come up with 100 Homographs. Do you think it's possible?]

Solution

Now, tell us how one could find whether the pronunciation of two homographs of a pair are different or same! What is the most effective way to remember the different pronunciations of a pair of homographs?

Click HERE to see the list of homographs that we’ve compiled so far!

My heart-felt thanks to all the contributors!  

.Happy Learning!

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I'd like to dedicate this blog to a deligent learner of English

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Rajesh

You could follow these links to my other blogs if you want to...

know how to do a voice recording and embed the audio player;

play 'virtual' pianos, drums and other musical instruments;

learn hundreds of idioms and other useful expressions;

use question tags correctly in your spoken English!

~* GS *~

January 22nd. 2013

I stumbled on this video today, February 13th. 2013! Twelve out of the above twenty-two sentences are found in the video along with some other interesting sentences / homographs!  

MORE HOMOGRAPHS

[ The  following sentences were taken from the above video! If you want to record these sentences and share your audio file with us, please feel free to do so! ]

A. The artist worked for hours to perfect the nearly perfect work.

B. After taking a shot with his bow, the archer took a bow.

C. They were going to project the project at the local theater.

D. The band booked the studio to record their record.

E. I had to console my mom after I sold her console.

F. The incense incensed the customers.

G. I spent last evening evening out a pile of dirt.

          Don't forget to click on the ’Like’ 'button if you find this challenge useful to you!