English pronunciation: logic takes a vacation.

English pronunciation can be a minefield for students learning English as a second language. Not only is it not a very phonetic language in terms of pronunciation (that is, we don’t say the words as they are spelt) but there are also, as the quoted lines below show, many words in English that are spelt the same way but have different pronunciations depending on whether they are a noun or verb. This is really just a bit of fun but it does show how difficult English can be so if you are a native English speaker and think that someone struggling with English sounds funny just remember how illogical your English language can be!

We polish Polish furniture.

He could lead if he got the lead out.

A farm can produce produce.

The dump was so full, it had to refuse refuse.

The soldier decided to desert in the desert.

The present is a good time to present the present.

At the Army base, a bass was painted on a bass drum.

A dove dove into the bushes.

I didn’t object to the object.

The insurance for the invalid was invalid.

The bandage was wound around the wound.

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

The two were too close to the door to close it.

The buck does funny things when does are present.

They sent a sewer down to stitch a tear in the sewer line.

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

The wind was too strong to wind the sail.

After a number of Novocain injections, my lips got number.

I shed a tear over a tear in my shirt.

I had to subject the subject to a number of tests.

How can I intimate this to my most intimate friends?

I spent last evening evening out a pile of dirt.