The Douglas English Institute

activity
actividad

actuality
actualidad

adversity
adversidad

agility
agilidad

amenity
amenidad

animosity
animosidad

artificiality
artificialidad

atrocity
atrocidad

austerity
austeridad

banality
banalidad

biodiversity
biodiversidad

brutality
brutalidad

calamity
calamidad

capacity
capacidad

causality
causalidad

cavity
cavidad

centrality
centralidad

clarity
claridad

comparability
comparabilidad

compatibility
compatibilidad

complicity
complicidad

conductivity
conductividad

conformity
conformidad

continuity
continuidad

convertibility
convertibilidad

creativity
creatividad

credibility
credibilidad

credulity
credulidad

culpability
culpabilidad

curiosity
curiosidad

deformity
deformidad

deity
deidad

density
densidad

dignity
dignidad

discontinuity
discontinuidad

disparity
disparidad

diversity
diversidad

divinity
divinidad

domesticity
domesticidad

duality
dualidad

duplicity
duplicidad

durability
durabilidad

elasticity
elasticidad

electricity
electricidad

enormity
enormidad

entity
entidad

equity
equidad

eternity
eternidad

eventuality
eventualidad

exclusivity
exclusividad

externality
externalidad

extremity
extremidad

familiarity
familiaridad

fatality
fatalidad

fecundity
fecundidad

felicity
felicidad

ferocity
ferocidad

fertility
fertilidad

fidelity
fidelidad

finality
finalidad

flexibility
flexibilidad

formality
formalidad

fragility
fragilidad

frivolity
frivolidad

futility
futilidad

generality
generalidad

generosity
generosidad

gratuity
gratuidad

heterogeneity
heterogeneidad

heterosexuality
heterosexualidad

hilarity
hilaridad

homogeneity
homogeneidad

homosexuality
homosexualidad

hospitality
hospitalidad

hostility
hostilidad

humanity
humanidad

identity
identidad

impersonality
impersonalidad

improbability
improbabilidad

impunity
impunidad

inactivity
inactividad

incapacity
incapacidad

incompatibility
incompatibilidad

incredulity
incredulidad

indignity
indignidad

individuality
individualidad

inequity
inequidad

inevitability
inevitabilidad

inferiority
inferioridad

infertility
infertilidad

infidelity
infidelidad

inflexibility
inflexibilidad

informality
informalidad

inhumanity
inhumanidad

iniquity
iniquidad

integrity
integridad

intensity
intensidad

interoperability
interoperabilidad

invisibility
invisibilidad

irregularity
irregularidad

Lesson 7 week 2

If you’re an English language learner or teacher, you’re probably familiar with this general scenario:

Student: “I don’t understand. Why is [insert deceptively difficult word] pronounced [insert correct pronunciation] and not [insert incorrect pronunciation]?”

Teacher: “The English language has many rules and exceptions to these rules.”

Now hopefully, if you’re the teacher, you’ve perfected a much more thoughtful response to such inquiries. If you’re the student, however, you might find yourself with a new question for every answer you receive. The wonders – and horrors – of English pronunciation have a way of creeping up on language learners.

Why does “through” sound like “threw” but “thorough” like “burrow”? Instead of offering a clumsy response to this question, I've decided to celebrate the quirkiness of English pronunciation with the following list.

Do you have an example to add to the mix? Let me know in the comments section below!

(wound)The doctor wound the bandage around the wound.

(bow) The viking took a bow after shooting his bow from the bow of his longship.

(dessert, desert) The soldier ate his dessert in the desert after he was forced to desert.

(Polish, polish) The Polish furniture could use a good polish.

(produce) They produce the finest produce at this farm.

(sow) The sow likes to watch the farmer sow his land.

(refuse) If the dump is full, it will refuse your refuse.

(present) Since there’s no time like the present, this is the perfect time to present the present.

(base, bass) At the Coast Guard base, a bass was painted on the head of a bass drum.

(dove) Startled, the dove dove into the bushes.

(invalid) The poor invalid has invalid insurance.

(close) They couldn’t close the door because they weren’t close enough.

(does) The buck does funny things when the does are present.

(sewer) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into the sewer.

(wind) The strong wind made it difficult to wind up the sail.

(number) After a number of Novocain injections, my jaw got number.

(subject) The scientist had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

(intimate) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

(evening) I spent last evening evening out a pile of dirt.

(tear) Upon seeing the tear in my favorite shirt, I shed a tear.

Grand finale: A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed.

Another example:

We'll begin with box, and the plural is boxes;
But the plural of ox should be oxen, not oxes.
Then one fowl is goose, but two are called geese,
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.
You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice,
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.
If the plural of man is always called men,
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?
The cow in the plural may be cows or kine,
But the plural of vow is vows, not vine.
I speak of my foot and show you my feet,
If I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth, and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?
If the singular is this and the plural is these,
Why shouldn't the plural of kiss be named kese?
Then one may be that, and three may be those,
Yet the plural of hat would never be hose;
We speak of a brother, and also of brethren,
But though we say mother, we never say methren.
The masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
But imagine the feminine she, shis, and shim!
So our English, I think, you all will agree,
Is the weirdest language you ever did see.
I take it you already know
Of tough and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble, but not you,
On hiccough, thorough, slough, and through?
Well done! And now you wish, perhaps
To learn of less familiar traps?
Beware of heard, a dreadful word,
That looks like beard and sounds like bird.
And dead; it's said like bed, not bead;
For goodness sake, don't call it deed!
Watch out for meat and great and threat;
They rhyme with suite and straight and debt.
A moth is not a moth in mother,
Nor both in bother, broth in brother.
And here is not a match for there,
Or dear and fear for bear and pear.
And then there's dose and rose and lose,
Just look them up, and goose and choose.
And cork and work and card and ward,
And font and front and word and sword.
And do and go, then thwart and cart.
Come, come, I've hardly made a start.

Any questions? Comment below.

Mistakes that English students make with certain words: ALLOW.....for example is mistakenly prounced like “alloe,” but it’s actually pronounced “allow.” It’s funny, the words low (the opposite of high) and below (which means “under”) have the same “o” sound in “no” – low, below. But the word allow has the ow sound as in the words now and how.

So is there any sort of rule for when to pronounce ow each way? Unfortunately, not really. You just need to remember the individual pronunciation of each word.

But when thinking about words that end in the letters -ow, I realized that most of the words with this ending have the “o” sound like in “no” and “low.” Let’s practice some of them –

window
swallow
pillow
elbow
arrow
borrow
shallow
flow
mow
tow
There are only a few words that end in -ow which are pronounced with the ow sound in “how.” Let’s practice these:

allow
eyebrow
endow
plow
vow
wow

What about the word spelled BOW? This is an interesting one because it has two pronunciations, with two different meanings. When pronounced bow like low, it’s a noun refers to a curved object like a bow and arrow, or a bow on a present. We also have a rainbow.

When pronounced bow like how, it refers to the action of bending or inclining your body to respect or honor someone. Some cultures bow as a form of greeting, or in some religions.

If you would like the long answer to the following question feel free to contact us

Why does the ending -ough have six pronunciations?

There are cough, tough, bough, through, and though (and "hiccough", if you're not from the U.S.); each of which has a different pronunciation for the ending "-ough". Why is this?

Edit for clarification: I'm trying to figure out why cough is spelled with an "-ough", if it's pronounced with an "-off". And then tough, pronounced "tuff". Why is that not spelled "tuff"? Bough, through, and though should be spelled "bow", "thrue" (or "thru"), and "thoe". Where did "-ough" come from? And then hiccough. Since that derives from cough, it should be pronounced "hickoff", but it isn't.

Short answer:

English spelling does not display a one-to-one correspondence with pronunciation, and certainly not with modern pronunciation. You shouldn't expect it to.

Medium answer:

These words are spelled with the same letter combination but pronounced with different sounds due to a combination of different etymologies, and different sound changes. Some of them started out with different pronunciations and stayed different; some of them started out with the same pronunciations and diverged over time.

More words you already know

Near Perfect Cognates

Here the near perfect cognates are divided into separate lists based on their behaviour:

The following near perfect cognates follow the rule for nouns ending ‘tion’ in English can be converted to Spanish by replacing with a ‘ción’.

SPANISH ENGLISH
Abstracción Abstraction
Acción Action
Acusación Accusation
Adaptación Adaptation
Admiración Admiration
Aplicación Application
Apreciación Appreciation
Asociación Association
Aspiración Aspiration
Atención Attention
Atracción Attraction
Autorización Authorization
Celebración Celebration
Circulación Circulation
Civilización Civilization
Clasificación Classification
Colaboración Collaboration
Colección Collection
Combinación Combination
Compensación Compensation
Composición Composition
Concentración Concentration
Concepción Conception
Condición Condition
Conservación Conservation
Consideración Consideration
Constitución Constitution
Construcción Construction
Exposición Exposition
Ficción Fiction
Formación Formation
Nación Nation
Simplificación Simplification

The following near perfect cognates follow the rule for English nouns ending ‘ary’ can be converted to Spanish by replacing with a ‘ario’.

SPANISH ENGLISH
Adversario Adversary
Aniversario Anniversary
Arbitrario Arbitrary
Comentario Commentary
Complementario Complementary
Contrario Contrary
Diario Diary
Glosario Glossary
Estuario Estuary
Primario Primary
Rosario Rosary
Salario Salary
Secretario Secretary
Solitario Solitary
Vocabulario Vocabulary
Temporario Temporary

The following near perfect cognates follow the rule for English adjectives ending ‘ic’ can be converted to Spanish by replacing with a ‘ico’.

SPANISH ENGLISH
Académico Academic
Alcohólico Alcoholic
Artístico Artistic
Auténtico Authentic
Automático Automatic
Básico Basic
Característico Characteristic
Clásico Classic
Cómico Comic
Democrático Democratic
Dinámico Dynamic
Diplomático Diplomatic
Doméstico Domestic
Dramático Dramatic
Económico Economic
Electrónico Electronic
Erótico Erotic
Exótico Exotic
Fantástico Fantastic
Genérico Generic
Genético Genetic
Geométrico Geometric
Heroico Heroic
Irónico Ironic
Mágico Magic
Médico Medic
Mosaico Mosaic
Orgánico Organic
Pánico Panic
Plástico Plastic
Poético Poetic
Público Public
Romántico Romantic
Sistemático Systematic
Trágico Tragic

The following near perfect cognates follow the rule for English adjectives ending ‘ous’ can be converted to Spanish by replacing with a ‘oso’.

SPANISH ENGLISH
Curioso Curious
Delicioso Delicious
Glorioso Glorious
Misterioso Mysterious
Numeroso Numerous
Precioso Precious
Religioso Religious
Tedioso Tedious

The following near perfect cognates follow the rule for nouns ending ‘ct’ in English can be converted to Spanish by replacing with a ‘cto’.

SPANISH ENGLISH
Abstracto Abstract
Acto Act
Artefacto Artefact
Compacto Compact
Conflicto Conflict
Contacto Contact
Correcto Correct
Exacto Exact
Excepto Except
Insecto Insect
Perfecto Perfect
Producto Product

There you have it, not all, but a good summary of the most useful English-Spanish cognates

Ok, let's start with words you already know.

Perfect Cognates
Here is the list of perfect English-Spanish cognates that I have selected for their practicality:

SPANISH ENGLISH
Actor Actor
Admirable Admirable
Agenda Agenda
Alcohol Alcohol
Altar Altar
Animal Animal
Area Area
Artificial Artificial
Auto Auto
Balance Balance
Bar Bar
Base Base
Brutal Brutal
Cable Cable
Canal Canal
Cáncer Cancer
Canon Canon
Capital Capital
Carbón Carbon
Cartón Carton
Central Central
Cerebral Cerebral
Cheque Cheque
Chocolate Chocolate
Circular Circular
Civil Civil
Club Club
Collar Collar
Colonial Colonial
Coma Coma
Combustión Combustion
Conclusión Conclusion
Conductor Conductor
Confusión Confusion
Considerable Considerable
Control Control
Cordial Cordial
Criminal Criminal
Crisis Crisis
Cultural Cultural
Debate Debate
Decisión Decision
Diagonal Diagonal
Dimensión Dimension
Director Director
Disco Disco
División Division
Doctor Doctor
Drama Drama
Editorial Editorial
Electoral Electoral
Elemental Elemental
Enigma Enigma
Error Error
Exclusive Exclusive
Excursión Excursion
Experimental Experimental
Explosión Explosion
Expulsión Expulsion
Extensión Extension
Exterior Exterior
Factor Factor
Familiar Familiar
Fatal Fatal
Federal Federal
Festival Festival
Final Final
Flexible Flexible
Formal Formal
Fórmula Formula
Frontal Frontal
Fundamental Fundamental
Gala Gala
Gas Gas
General General
Génesis Genesis
Global Global
Grave Grave
Habitual Habitual
Hobby Hobby
Horizontal Horizontal
Horror Horror
Hospital Hospital
Hotel Hotel
Idea Idea
Ideal Ideal
Imperial Imperial
Implacable Implacable
Incursión Incursion
Individual Individual
Industrial Industrial
Inevitable Inevitable
Inferior Inferior
Informal Informal
Informative Informative
Inseparable Inseparable
Inspector Inspector
Interminable Interminable
Invasión Invasion
Invisible Invisible
Irregular Irregular
Judicial Judicial
Kilo Kilo
Lateral Lateral
Legal Legal
Liberal Liberal
Literal Literal
Local Local
Macho Macho
Maestro Maestro
Mango Mango
Manía Mania
Manual Manual
Marginal Marginal
Mate Mate
Material Material
Matrimonial Matrimonial
Medieval Medieval
Mediocre Mediocre
Melón Melon
Mental Mental
Menú Menu
Metal Metal
Miserable Miserable
Moral Moral
Mortal Mortal
Motel Motel
Motor Motor
Múltiple Multiple
Municipal Municipal
Musical Musical
Natural Natural
Noble Noble
Normal Normal
Nostalgia Nostalgia
Ópera Ópera
Oral Oral
Oriental Oriental
Original Original
Panorama Panorama
Particular Particular
Pasta Pasta
Pastor Pastor
Patio Patio
Patrón Patron
Peculiar Peculiar
Penal Penal
Perfume Perfume
Personal Personal
Peseta Peseta
Piano Piano
Plaza Plaza
Plural Plural
Popular Popular
Pretensión Pretension
Principal Principal
Probable Probable
Propaganda Propaganda
Protector Protector
Provincial Provincial
Radical Radical
Radio Radio
Región Region
Regional Regional
Regular Regular
Religión Religion
Reunión Reunion
Revisión Revision
Ritual Ritual
Rural Rural
Secular Secular
Sentimental Sentimental
Serial Serial
Sexual Sexual
Similar Similar
Simple Simple
Singular Singular
Social Social
Solar Solar
Solo Solo
Subversión Subversion
Superficial Superficial
Superior Superior
Taxi Taxi
Televisión Television
Terrible Terrible
Terror Terror
Total Total
Transcendental Transcendental
Triple Triple
Tropical Tropical
Unión Unión
Universal Universal
Usual Usual
Verbal Verbal
Versión Version
Vertical Vertical
Violín Violin
Visible Visible
Visual Visual
Vital Vital
Vulgar Vulgar
Vulnerable Vulnerable