ELPS

In English, there exist words that are pronounced in a similar or nearly similar manner as another word, but have different meaning and are spelled differently. These words are called homophones.

Many common verbs, that is words that describe action, condition or experience, are homophones of a noun. In a spoken phrase or a sentence they sound like a noun, but in terms of their meaning are usually completely unrelated to the noun.

Common homophones of nouns that are verbs

Here is a list of common homophones of nouns that are verbs:.

Examples of homophones of nouns in a sentence

Andy bought a boat and is planning to sail to the other side of the Caspian Sea.

This house is for sale, but the price is too high for us.

Heavy rain is forecast for tomorrow.

His reign is finally over.

Even though he has no money, he still wants to buy a better car.

Ann said "bye" an headed for the front door.

Determining if a homophone is a verb or a noun

Homophones, due to their non-unique meaning can sometimes introduce confusion into a verbal conversation. However, because these words usually are embedded in a sentence and surrounded by other, more unambiguous words, their intended meaning can be easily inferred from the context of the broader conversation.

So, if you hear a word and are not sure about intended meaning of another word that follows it, but you also know the second word to be a homophone, pay attention to what is preceding and what is following the homophone. In English, one extremely common pattern is a noun followed a verb. So if the first word is unambiguously a noun that is not a homophone, the one immediately after it will most likely will be a verb rather than another noun or some other part of spech.

Ambiguity introduced by the use of the homophone can be further reduced by closely following words and phrases that come after it.