Close / clothes

[eddiemel7778]

Hi there guys! I have been told that these two words are pronounced the same. Is it right?

Thanks heaps!

 

[xrayspex]

Not in AE.

clothes: klothz (long "o")

 

[Percy de Vere]

In BE close = klohz

clothes = klothz (rhymes with klohz).

Percy

 

[SpanishStudent_39]

When spoken quickly, they do sound about the same. But they are pronounced slightly differently. "Clothes" is pronounced like "close" but with an added "th" sound: "clo-th-ss". You can hear the audio of both words being pronounced at these links:

http://www.wordreference.com/definition/clothes
http://www.wordreference.com/definition/close

Hope this helps.

 

[winklepicker]

Hi there guys! I have been told that these two words are pronounced the same. Is it right?

Clothes is a very difficult word for many non-natives. If you have trouble with it, you will be better understood if you say close (IPA klouz) for clothes than the frequent mistake clothis (IPA klouθiz).

Don't confuse vb to close (IPA klouz) with adj close (IPA klous) = near.

 

[eddiemel7778]

Thanks heaps! You all have help me bunches.

 

[SpanishStudent_39]

Good point, winklepicker. "Close" only sounds like "clothes" if you mean the verb, "to close". The adjective "close", which means "near", is pronounced a bit differently. Again, WordReference will pronounce these words for you.

 

[panjandrum]

See Pronunciation of th-, -th, -thes from post #25 onwards.