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Homophones #3

Each of these words has two homophones. Guess what they are.
A homophone is a word that sounds the same but is spelled differently
For this quiz, spelling must be exact
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: March 17, 2018
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First submittedFebruary 18, 2013
Times taken70,076
Average score65.6%
Rating3.92
5:00
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Word
Homophones
Vain
Vane
Vein
Prays
Praise
Preys
By
Buy
Bye
Sent
Cent
Scent
You
Ewe
Yew
For
Fore
Four
Poor
Pore
Pour
Errs
Airs
Heirs
Word
Homophones
Idle
Idol
Idyll
Meat
Meet
Mete
Pair
Pare
Pear
Peak
Peek
Pique
Raise
Rays
Raze
Road
Rode
Rowed
Rain
Reign
Rein
Freeze
Frees
Frieze
108 Recent Comments
+12
Level 85
Oct 28, 2015
Errs is not pronounced like airs and heirs. And in what part of the world do people pronounce poor the same as pore and pour?
+1
Level 74
Nov 8, 2015
In the mid-south of the US for one.
+3
Level 44
Aug 30, 2018
New Zealand, Australia
+2
Level 72
Dec 17, 2018
how else could you pronounce it?
+5
Level 75
Nov 27, 2021
Several regional accents in the UK pronounce it "poo-er". I know in my more standard accent, they're pronounced the same, but then it wouldn't be valid because "paw" is also a homophone.
+1
Level 78
Nov 27, 2021
Definitely all pronounced the same in the northeastern/mid-Atlantic US, where I grew up and live.
+1
Level 65
Aug 8, 2024
I have been all over the US, and I have never heard any of these words pronounced differently from their homophones. I am curious, how do you pronounce errs?
+2
Level 71
Aug 8, 2024
The most phonetic way I can think to explain it would be like "hers" with a silent h. This one took a while for me to get because I've never heard of it pronounced any other way.
+1
Level 72
Aug 9, 2024
errs

see "err"

https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&sca_esv=005c94dd96022aa3&sxsrf=ADLYWILJVxWbQDLYy4PDlgpbhgsI4FGC2Q:1723252694964&q=errs&si=ACC90nxP-llVVa3oXeZWHl4VPWVYBx7dc03XV6NCDjUDet1hqvh9susT1vGN85KkDndM6bpnb7eXdSf8vrxpUmWTX-hhQlOCJw%3D%3D&expnd=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiqivfFoOmHAxWFVUEAHTK-CAkQ2v4IegQIFxB2&biw=1600&bih=739&dpr=1

+2
Level 68
Aug 8, 2024
I'll agree with you on errs. But, I totally say poor, pour and pore the same. New England.
+2
Level 72
Aug 9, 2024
I agree on errs and airs, but I don't know how you are pronouncing poor to not be like pour or pore
+1
Level 69
Nov 9, 2015
Fun quiz - pretty much gives you the answers but still hard. (I should have done better!)
+5
Level 74
Nov 9, 2015
If you're from New York, errs doesn't sound like airs. It must be a Midwest thing. When I moved to the Midwest from New Jersey, I realized that people couldn't distinguish between the names Aaron and Erin, which are completely, utterly different pronunciations to me.
+1
Level 68
Oct 18, 2016
I think both examples you just cited, dasubergeek, are true not just in the Phila/NJ/NY Northeast, but also all the way down the Middle Atlantic to DC as well as up and throughout New England. (But if we had to tackle "draw"/"drawer" in Rhode Island/Mass. or "water"/"wooder" in Philly, things would get REALLY convoluted!)
+10
Level 59
Nov 10, 2015
What about "paw" as a homphone of pour, pore and poor?
+2
Level 85
Aug 26, 2018
Only if you're British. Pronouncing "aw" as "or" instead of "ah" creates the amusing situation that you pronounce "flaw" like "floor". I heard a song on the radio where the guy kept singing "All of my floors and all of your floors", and had no idea what he was talking about it. It got really weird when he said "you have always worn your floors upon your sleeve".
+3
Level 83
Nov 27, 2021
You've got it the wrong way round. No-one pronounces "aw" as "or" in words like flaw, it's that we Brits pronounce the "or" in words like floor the same as the "aw" in flaw - i.e., non-rhotically.

And I've never heard anyone, of any nationality, pronounce "aw" like "ah".

+8
Level 76
Nov 10, 2015
I have never ever hear "errs" pronounced close to that way - to ryhme with airs? Naaah.

I have lived in Australia and the UK and been to the US a number of times. Simply can't believe it's true.

Also, paw for poor - totally yes.

And idyll? I was dubious, but I looked that up and now I learnt something.

+1
Level 85
Aug 26, 2018
Paw for poor: not in the North American pronounciation.
+5
Level 83
Nov 12, 2015
Those people who are complaining - just pronounce the whole quiz in an American accent. I've got used to that now.
+3
Level 85
Aug 26, 2018
Yes. Except for "poor" being a homophone for "pore" and "pour". Apparently that's a southern US thing. In the north, it's pronounced with a long U, like "room". Poo-er.
+4
Level 67
Nov 27, 2021
Midwest here - it's a homophone
+2
Level 78
Nov 27, 2021
I grew up in New Jersey and now live in Maryland, and I've always pronounced them all the same way.
+1
Level 72
Aug 9, 2024
most be really confused by bohemian rhapsody "I' just a paw/pore boy"

what would that even mean? a boy with paws

+2
Level 62
Sep 10, 2016
Hue for "you" ??...
+4
Level 68
Oct 18, 2016
"Hue" definitely has an aspirated "h" at the beginning.
+1
Level 45
Nov 18, 2016
ROAD AND RHODE
+3
Level 85
Aug 26, 2018
Except that "rhode" isn't a word by itself. It's a proper noun when followed by "Island". Pluralize it and it becomes another proper noun -- the island of Rhodes -- or the first half of "Rhodes Scholar".
+2
Level 74
Aug 7, 2024
That isn't pluralizing... but other than that, yes.
+1
Level 56
Nov 30, 2017
This is probably my favorite category :-)
+5
Level 71
May 11, 2018
I appreciate that accents vary, but, as someone from the South of England, "Errs" is not a homophone of "Airs" and "Heirs" (it rhymes with "Hers") and "Idyll" is not a homophone of "Idle" and "Idol" - the initial "I" being pronounced as it "it".
+3
Level 94
Jan 30, 2019
and the yll being like a short il not ol (although I can see how some accents may vary that)
+4
Level 67
Jun 28, 2018
Errs should be removed given other countries such as Australia don't pronounce it "airs".
+1
Level 74
Aug 7, 2024
South Korea should be removed given other countries such as North Korea don't recognize it.
+1
Level 68
Sep 18, 2024
South Korea is not even on this quiz
+1
Level 69
Aug 7, 2018
Nice one. Tough, but got 100% on the first try. Frieze was the hardest. Definitely do not understand the Paw comments or that errs is not pronounced like airs/heirs. How do you say it? Urs?

(I live in Oklahoma)

+1
Level 75
Nov 27, 2021
Yup, that is indeed the correct way to say it.
+5
Level 78
Nov 27, 2021
There's no such thing as a "correct" dialect. Just accept that different accents pronounce certain words differently, and that none is really more "correct" than another.
+1
Level 40
Aug 7, 2024
I'm from OK and was taught to pronounce errs correctly. It is errs, not airs.
+1
Level 72
Aug 9, 2024
yes, like urs/burs/curs, or hers without the H
+2
Level 70
Aug 26, 2018
There's a great study on American dialects that offers some cool maps on not only pronunciation but also regional vocabulary. You can participate or just check out their results: http://www.tekstlab.uio.no/cambridge_survey/. And for you non-Americans, now you can sate your curiosity as to what locale in 'Mericuh your particular dialect most closely matches (if you get Boston then chances are you have a severe speech impediment and should seek specialist therapy).
+2
Level 74
Dec 26, 2018
'Ey, bustah, that's really wicked roode of ya tah mock mah Bahston accent! I oughta clobbah ya one!
+4
Level 75
Aug 26, 2018
Maybe do one for American English and one for... you know, English.
+1
Level 68
Aug 26, 2018
Got all easy. Except for errs. Man I was stumped! Nothing rhymes with errs!! I was so surprised to see the answer! Kiwi accent for you.
+1
Level 67
Aug 26, 2018
Errs is pronounced as spelled in Australia. Not fair. Otherwise, I scored 100%. >:-(
+1
Level 53
Aug 26, 2018
You shouldn't use words that don't sound alike in different accents. Its not difficult to find other homophones that aren't complete red herrings to people who don't pronounce words exactly the same way you do.
+2
Level 63
Aug 27, 2018
gee. or perhaps you could go and make those quizzes and allow the quizmaster to make his quizzes as he likes.
+2
Level 24
Aug 27, 2018
If you can't think of how other people might pronounce a word, that's your lack of understanding of English, and you don't deserve to get that one right.
+1
Level 53
Aug 29, 2018
I think a quiz 'master' has a responsibility to avoid words in a homophone quiz that aren't homophones to most people. Especially when alternatives are easy to find.
+5
Level 78
Nov 27, 2021
IS there any such thing as a homophone that is pronounced exactly the same in ALL dialects of English?
+1
Level 74
Aug 7, 2024
So... you shouldn't use words then?

There is no such thing as a word that sounds alike in all accents, at least not in English.

I wouldn't pronounce all of these words as homophones, but it really isn't that much of a stretch to realize that someone else would/does.

+1
Level 75
Aug 27, 2018
Just look the word up. Errs is a soft e whereas to make errs rhyme with airs it would have to be a hard e. Thus airs is not a homophone of errs.
+3
Level 78
Nov 27, 2021
I just looked it up in Merriam-Webster, and the first pronunciation given for both "err" and "air" is ˈer.
+1
Level 62
Aug 27, 2018
Raise=Race
+2
Level 81
Aug 27, 2018
There is a difference between voiced and unvoiced consonants
+4
Level 56
Aug 29, 2018
I wish I had some popcorn for all the debates in this thread. Are people just now learning that there are different pronunciations for different areas? I figured, with TV and all...
+2
Level 65
Aug 29, 2018
What about Ears?
+3
Level 44
Aug 30, 2018
You need to specify the accent you're using, so many things don't belong or are missing based on various accents.
+2
Level 56
Sep 1, 2018
idyll is not pronounced the same as idol!
+1
Level 72
Dec 17, 2018
I got frieze and pique and only missed six, got neither of the errs, not sure how to pronounce it ( not from an english speaking country, so pretty proud :) cause this is quite tough)

Shouldnt "hue" be an acceptable answer for a homopone for "you" (did try jew not yew :/ but it is more pronounced djew anyway I thought, so hue would be a better fit)

+2
Level 75
Dec 27, 2018
The H in hue is pronounced - it is a homophone of Hugh and they both sound like 'HYOO'

You and yew are both pronounced as 'YOO'

+3
Level 58
Jun 19, 2019
'errs' is not a homophone for 'airs'. they are not pronounced the same
+2
Level 80
Jun 19, 2019
I pronounce 'idyll' as /ɪdɪl/, not /ʌɪd(ə)l/.
+2
Level 90
Jul 7, 2019
Jerry from NZ (above) said:

In New Zealand, heirs and airs are honomyms, but are pronounced differently from errs, which is pronounced more like "urze". And we pronounce idle with a long "i" ("eye-dull"), but idyll with a short "i", rhyming with "riddle".

I'm from the UK and agree totally in all respects. Re 'errs' I'm from the Midlands, lived in the south west and south east and now in the north and have never heard errs pronounced in any way than urze. (Mind you, I haven't lived in Yorkshire :-) .)

+1
Level 82
Jul 13, 2020
Totally agree with this, erm, Ears? Did I pronounce that correctly? I rhymed it with errs.
+1
Level 65
Aug 8, 2024
How do you pronounce "error"?
+2
Level 76
Aug 8, 2024
This is the key to understanding why err does sound like air for some people. You take the second syllable off error and say it the same way. Others pronounce it as it looks on it's own without regard to what happens when '-or' is added. Both are correct.
+2
Level 50
Nov 11, 2020
"Errs"/"Airs" and "Idle"/"Idyll" only work in an American accent.
+1
Level 76
Nov 13, 2020
Mane and Main sound awfully lot like Vain.
+2
Level 53
Aug 1, 2021
That would be a rhyme,
+4
Level 71
May 10, 2021
Where's 'Paw'?
+3
Level 64
Jun 12, 2021
I can't type phonetic chars on my phone, but idyll is a short I, idol is a dipthong. Errs does not rhyme with airs in any accent I've ever heard & I've lived in lots of places.

There is a further homophone for by: bi is now a fully accepted term for a person who is bisexual

+1
Level 53
Aug 1, 2021
As far as your Errs and airs concern, try English.

"Bi" alone is not a word, it is a part of many different words.

I don't accept it, therefore it is not "fully accepted".

+2
Level 91
Aug 14, 2021
While airs and heirs are homophones, neither is a homophone of errs. End of story.

The emphasis in the word idyll is on the second syllable, meaning it is not a homophone of idle or idol (which are homophones). Clear?

Love these qizzes

+1
Level 70
Nov 22, 2021
Don't know how I came up with Frieze but ok
+1
Level 70
Nov 22, 2021
Maybe cuz of Frieza from DBZ even though I've barely watched it
+1
Level 70
Nov 22, 2021
Missed idyll, pique, and rowed, the bottom 3
+1
Level 61
Nov 27, 2021
Fun quiz thanks and I do realise that we're all supposed to speak with American accents, however couldn't quizzes just avoid words that really don't work in other parts of the world. Idles is not a homophone of idylls (id-ills) in Britain. And how about rase?
+2
Level 76
Nov 27, 2021
Paw for poor as well
+2
Level 68
Nov 27, 2021
I am not a native English speaker and I just realised that all this time I have been pronouncing many of these words incorrectly.
+5
Level 78
Nov 27, 2021
I will never get over how so many people here insist that their particular dialect of English is the One and Only Correct Pronunciation and that all other dialects are apparently horrible abominations.
+1
Level 76
Aug 8, 2024
Yeah, a lot of these comments are a little over-the-top. That said, I have heard/noticed the distinctions being pointed out for err, idyll, and poor. Idyll and poor are somewhat subtle differences. Err simply has more than one common pronunciation. I would have excluded those if it were my quiz. There are many alternatives. (mostly Midwest American: PA, AR, and WI)
+2
Level 58
Nov 27, 2021
The non-homophones for me (from Ireland) are:

- poor (not a homophone with pore or pour). In my accent "poor" has the vowel of "good" while "pore" has the vowel of "broad".

- idyll (pronounced completely differently to idol/idle - this is not an accent issue)

- errs (not a homophone with airs/heirs)

+1
Level 66
Nov 29, 2021
Rhode is also a homophone for road, rowed and rode
+3
Level 87
Jan 26, 2022
Even as an American, Err doesn't sound the same as air, it has the same sound as the 'ur' in urn.
+2
Level ∞
Jan 26, 2022
To err is human. To forgive divine.
+1
Level 66
Mar 3, 2022
to err is human to really foul things up takes a computer
+2
Level 69
Jun 9, 2022
Not to this American. It's a big country.
+1
Level 59
Jul 5, 2022
Errs is pronounced neither the same as airs or heirs. And idyll is not pronounced like idle or idol.
+1
Level 69
Oct 5, 2023
idyll doesn't work
+1
Level 58
Oct 15, 2023
road, rode and rowed? maybe this is specific to me but the latter would have a well emphasised 'w', so the pronunciation really wouldn't be the same. I can admit that its probably close enough that it works in some accents though.
+1
Level 76
Aug 8, 2024
There's no way to emphasize the 'w' without pronouncing rowed as a two syllable word. It may seem like you're making a different sound as you picture the word in your mind, but if you're only saying one syllable, the best you can do is elongate the 'o' sound. Try recording yourself pronouncing each one and play them back. You'll see.
+2
Level 59
Feb 6, 2024
Whoever uploaded this does not know how to pronounce "errs"
+1
Level 63
Aug 7, 2024
works perfectly in southwest American english.
+2
Level 64
Feb 10, 2024
Can you declare a source for the pronunciations? For a lot of mother tongue English speakers some these are nowhere near homophones. If we know the dialect or preferably the dictionary used we might have a chance.
+1
Level 23
Feb 26, 2024
A highly controversial topic, raising issues on the correct pronunciation (if there is even such a thing) of some selective homophones, depending not only on nationhood but also its states/provinces/counties therein. I loved it! PS: for the record: missed out on six!
+1
Level 54
May 9, 2024
i pronounce errs like blURS
+1
Level 63
Aug 7, 2024
sorry for you. people would point and laugh if you did in the American southwest. :)
+2
Level 20
May 9, 2024
To me, errs is pronounced [ʌ:z], heirs as [hɛ:z] and airs as [ɛ:z], so funnily enough, not one of those are homophones in my accent.
+1
Level 67
May 13, 2024
I was going to say that I've never heard "paw" used for poor, but then I remembered the Inventing Anna trailer
+2
Level 51
Aug 7, 2024
Managed to get all, but only by thinking of what to me are common mispronunciations and in this way got to the "airs/heirs" set. Had it drummed into me as a kid that in "to err is human," "err" rhymes with "her." I'm from the Midwest. With so many accents among English language speakers, finding universal homophones is close to impossible. The long a/ei variations seem safe (rain/reign, vain/vein), but "idyll" and "idol" are misses in, I suspect, more than half the English accents. (And in British English, its "i" is short!)
+5
Level 78
Aug 7, 2024
As a Brit, I struggled with this as many of these words are not homophones in my accent. I guess that's the nature of the beast here.
+1
Level 74
Aug 7, 2024
Finally, someone who gets it! You shouldn't expect a quiz about pronunciation to be tailor-made for your accent.

Personally, my accent is close enough to so-called Standard American to "fudge" most of these, but a number aren't exact homophones for me. If I were speaking fast enough and not enunciating clearly, then they all would work.

+2
Level 67
Aug 7, 2024
Idyll in the UK is pronounced as Idill not eyedill
+1
Level 43
Aug 7, 2024
I'm from the UK and everyone I know pronounces it eyedill
+1
Level 82
Aug 8, 2024
Well, idyll definitely has a short 'i' sound in standard British English (RP), and it's hardly the sort of word that gets frequently said in strong enough regional accents or dialects to have a well-established different pronunciation. I didn't know that US pronunciation was with a long 'i', so I've learned something useful from this quiz. (I was aware that Americans tend to pronounce err to rhyme with bear rather than burr.)
+1
Level 72
Aug 7, 2024
Paw is a homophone of Pour
+1
Level 76
Aug 8, 2024
Not in any accent where 'r' is pronounced.