The following words often cause confusion owing to faulty pronunciation. Note that words in the same group which are marked with asterisks are pronounced alike.

Lose (verb) (rhymes with choose)

Act now if you don’t want to lose this opportunity.

Loose* (verb), loose* (adjective) (rhymes with goose)

When he loosed his dog it ran away.
This knot is loose and will soon come undone.

Taste (rhymes with waste)
Test (rhymes with nest)

The food tasted nice.
He tested the food in the laboratory.

Pore* (noun), pour* (verb) (rhymes with door)
Poor (adjective) (rhymes with tour)

Tiny holes in your skin are called pores.
He poured the tea into the cup.
We should help the poor and the needy.

Patrol (pa-trol, accent on ‘trol’)
Petrol (pe-trol, accent on ‘pet’)

There were no policemen on patrol.
Motor vehicles use petrol.

Latter (adjective) (rhymes with matter)
Later (adverb) (rhymes with waiter)
Letter (noun) (rhymes with better)

The latter (second) part of the film is more interesting than the former (first) part.
I will come later.
I haven’t received your letter yet.

Bath (path)
Bathe (lathe)

We take a bath to clean our bodies.
We bathe, or have a bathe, to enjoy ourselves.

Princes (accent on ‘prin’)
Princess (accent on ‘cess’)

Princes are the sons of a king.
A princess is the daughter of a king.