Pernah bingung mengucapkan flour - flower, love - laugh, hear - here, etc? Kedengaran sama, tapi beda arti. Walau kedengaran sama, namun arti dan penggunaan kata dalam konteks kalimat berbeda. Itulah yang disbeut dengan homophone.

Bagaimana membedakannya? Sering-sering dengar percakapan bahasa Inggris atau bisa juga dengan membaca tulisan berbahasa Inggris dengan lantang.

Ayo kita latihan membedakan kata2 yg kedengaran mirip. Baca kalimat-kalimat berikut secara lantang & pilih satu kata di dalam tanda kurung.

1. I get lots of (presence/presents) on my birthday.
   Answer: presents
   Difference: Presence-kehadiran, presents-kado
2. The librarian might (wave/waive) the fine on your overdue book.
   Answer: Waive
   Difference: Wave-ombak/melambai, waive-menghapus/meniadakan.
3. They are going to (annual/annul) my membership.
   Answer: Annul
   Difference: Annual-tahunan, annul-membatalkan
4. Jason (bald/bawled) when he lost all his hair.
   Answer: bawled
   Difference: Bald-botak, bawled-menangis meraung-raung.
5. Jane's (manner/manor) was very strange today.
   Answer: manner
   Difference: Manner-cara/sikap/tata krama, manor-rumah megah.
6. Will you hand me that (bail/bale) of plastic sheets?
   Answer: Bale
   Difference: Bail-uang jaminan, bale-bungkusan besar.
7. What are we going to do with all the (correspondence/correspondents) we receive in the mail?
   Answer: Correspondence
   Difference: Correspondence-surat. Correspondent-orang yg menulis surat.
8. Oliver is a member of the (cast/caste) in the play.
   Answer: Cast
   Difference: Cast-melempar/kelompok pemeran, caste-kasta sosial.
9. Jim turns into a major (cougher/coffer) after smoking a cigarette.
   Answer: Cougher
   Difference: Cougher-penderita batuk, coffer-kotak penyimpanan.
10. The cat (clause/claws) the couch every day.
    Answer: Claws
    Difference: Clause-klausa kalimat, claws-cakar binatang.