Омофоны. Where, wear and were

Hi, everyone!
Did you know that there are special words called “homophones”? It has nothing to do with phones, if that’s what you thought. Homophones (омонимы)  are words which have absolutely the same pronunciation but different meanings. For example, if you write that you’re so board, people will misunderstand you, because you’re not a board made of wood from a tree, you’re bored, you’re not interested.

Can you find another example in the picture? I’ll give you a hint  – it also has something to do with trees…

There are also words which have almost the same pronunciation, but still sound a bit different. For example, if you say “I want buy this” – it’s incorrect, because you meant “I won’t buy this”. One sound can make a great difference.

So as not to make fools of ourselves and do everything right, let’s find out a little more about…

Where, wear and were

Where and wear are homophones. Произносятся они вот так: [weər]
переводится таким образом: где, куда, туда:

• Where can I buy some water? (где)
• Where are you going? (куда)
• I want to go where the grass is green. (туда, где)

Here is what Google thinks about when you type “where”

Wear переводится так: быть одетым, носить, изнашивать, износ

•  I usually wear sunglasses in the summer. Do you?
• What are you going to wear to the party?

Не путайте wear с put on– одевать. I put on – я одеваю, I wear – я ношу.
Вот фразы с wear:

• Wear out – make something nonfunctional from use – He wore his new boots out in just one week!
• Wear and tear – the damage that happens to an object when it is used – This insurance doesn’t cover wear and tear, only accidents.
•  Patience wears thin – you are not so patient anymore – Stop doing that! My patience is wearing thin.

Now you can understand this joke.

• Wear off – to stop gradually. – The effects of the painkiller are wearing off.
• Worse for wear – damaged through use – This car is worse for wear. I need to get it checked.

Ну a were – это уже не homophone с wear and where.
Were – это вторая форма глагола to be – быть. Were используется для you/we/they.
Where and were произносятся по-разному! Поэтому будьте внимательны, когда говорите вопрос в past simple с where:

Where were you?(practice saying this question) 

Ну и немножко fun напоследок. Werewolf – оборотень, произносится как “where” а не “were”.
А вот вам wherewolf =)  It needs a map to find where to hunt.

Fill in the blanks in these sentences:
1. W…… can you w…… this outfit?
2. I want to see w…… the birds hide in the rain.
3. W…… you a well-behaved child?
4. Don’t worry, the coffee will w…… off.
5. Clothes are usually worse for w…… after several months.

Thanks for reading!