This is an All Ears English podcast, episode 2515.
Finally fix your A-T-E word endings in English.
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How do you know when you should say estimate or estimate, graduate or graduate?
Today, get the secrets you must know to do this right in English.
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That's allearsenglish.com Hey, Michelle, how are you today?
I'm good, Lindsay.
Lindsay, could you give me a rough estimate of how many episodes we've recorded this year?
Oh, wow, Michelle, that's going to be hard to estimate because I can look at our records later.
Okay, that would be great.
Thanks.
I'm just curious.
Yeah, it's a lot, by the way.
It's a lot.
It's a lot.
Guys, today we are going to talk about something called heteronyms.
This came up in a recent episode because the word estimate an estimate happened to come up into our conversation.
We realized there are many words like this with this A-T-E ending.
So this is really useful, really common, really important.
What do you think, Lindsay?
Yeah.
I do think.
And I think this word heteronym sounds like a Greek god or something to me.
Heteronym.
Yeah, it is.
That is a nice name.
Doesn't it?
It's very strange.
But yeah, I mean, this is going to be great.
Our listeners hopefully heard just in the opening, we used the word rough estimate.
And then I used the verb estimate, right?
Hopefully they picked up on that.
So that was a little hint for our listeners today.
A little hint.
So guys, Heteronyms are words with the same spelling, but different pronunciation and a different meaning.
So there are many different kinds of heteronyms.
But again, today we're going to focus on this special ending, right?
The A-T-E ending and how it changes depending on the part of speech.
So very useful, really important to know.
Really important.
And this is one that comes with experience.
As we move into the B2C1 levels and we listen to more English, we just learn this.
But we're going to go through some examples.
So we start to learn some chunks here.
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Perfect.
Okay.
So let's get into this.
So let's start because we were already talking about estimate, right?
So in the role play I said a rough estimate and then you said it's going to be difficult to estimate.
So what's going on here?
Oh my gosh.
So we essentially have, you know, what I guess the same word kind of, right?
It's spelled the same.
But it's being used as a noun in your case, estimate, a rough estimate.
And in my case, I use it as a verb.
Yep.
So as a noun, is it spelled the same way?
Yeah, it's spelled the same way, right?
That's the tricky part.
Right.
But what's interesting is that, yeah, the noun is pronounced not with an A-T-E sound.
It's kind of more like an I-T, right?
Estimate.
Estimate. estimate.
There's kind of two ways in English that we can pronounce A-T-E at the end of words right, Michelle?
And these are the two ways, it or ate.
Yeah.
So with the verb, it's just estimate, just like what it looks like.
So let's give some examples.
So here we go.
I estimate we will increase our sales by 30% next year.
Right.
Or I can give you the number, but it is just, oh, we're switching over to the noun now.
Right.
So I can give you the number, but it is just an estimate for now.
That one is the it, the noun form.
Right.
So exactly.
So the first one is I estimate.
So that's the verb.
The second one is it's just an estimate is the noun.
Michelle, are there other words in English that we have to worry about?
That follow this weird pattern.
There are tons of them.
So again, let's start by giving kind of this general rule.
So the noun has more, like has that shorter sound, right?
The it, right?
And the verb has the longer sound, ate, right?
So estimate noun, estimate verb.
Right.
And when we say long, the noun is the shorter one.
Yeah.
Right.
And just so.
When I was a kid I never really understood like short and long vowels, but just so that it's clear for our listeners estimate, listen to how we're stretching that out more.
Estimate.
Estimate.
Right.
We're stretching it out.
And so that's why we call it a longer sound.
Okay.
Yes.
Yes.
Exactly.
So let's see how that works.
If it's, if our theory is true.
Okay.
So let's do graduate.
Lindsay, what, what's the noun for this?
Okay.
So the noun is the person, right?
Who, who, who accomplishes, gets the degree, right?
The graduate.
Right. right?
I think there's a movie, The Graduate.
Have you seen that one?
Yes, I have.
Dustin Hoffman.
Oh, Dustin Hoffman.
Dustin Hoffman.
Yes.
Fantastic.
I just saw a movie with him recently.
He's still going strong with his acting.
It's amazing.
Yeah, he is incredible.
Yeah.
So again, that's the shorter sound, the it.
And now let's move on to the verb.
She's going to graduate.
Oh, wait, sorry.
Graduate is the verb, the A-T-E.
Don't get us confused, Michelle.
Yes, I'm sorry.
Graduate.
So I was moving on to the examples.
So let's move on to the examples now.
So the first one is with the noun.
For me, I can say, I am a University of Maryland graduate.
Yes, the noun, right?
A person who has graduated, right?
So for example, she's going to graduate as a verb next year, right?
Mm-hmm.
Yes.
Okay.
So that's one.
And there's also another one in the English language.
I mean, there are many, but here's one.
Advocate, right?
Advocate, advocate.
So for the noun, is it shorter?
Is it that it?
Is it pronounced like that?
Yeah, that's right.
That's right.
So it follows the same pattern.
So the noun is the short it, advocate, and the verb is the A, the longer sound, advocate.
Yeah.
Exactly.
So let's do the noun example.
She has been a fierce advocate for women's rights over the years.
She's inspiring.
Or I need us all to advocate for what we believe in.
We shouldn't be afraid.
I mean, the good news here is the meanings are very interrelated, right?
They're very linked, these two words, right?
Right.
Right.
Exactly.
And they all are really.
So you know, you don't have to worry so much.
You know, just kind of change it into the noun or verb form in your mind.
But it's mostly the pronunciation that we're focusing on.
You got it.
All right, Michelle, we're back.
There are three more that we want to highlight for our listeners.
The next one is duplicate and duplicate.
Tell us about this.
Yeah.
So the noun form duplicate.
So it's spelled A-T-E, but it's pronounced that short way, right? duplicate so a copy right mm-hmm yeah basically the same thing right one more of the same thing so there this is a duplicate copy if you need it right mm-hmm or duplicate it's the verb to make a copy right so there's no way to duplicate a the feeling I got when traveling in India.
I'm jealous that you went to India.
I'm so jealous.
You know, it's sort of that feeling.
I think sometimes we try to go back to a certain place and try to have that.
We went before that.
We had an amazing feeling.
We try to duplicate how we felt or replicate even.
That's another one.
Actually, that would fit into the replicate, replicate.
Very good, replicate, replicate.
Good, good one.
But it never works.
It just never works because you're a different person.
You're in a different place in life.
Maybe we're traveling with someone different.
Has that been your experience?
Or have you been able to recreate the same feelings going back to the same place as a traveler, Michelle?
I mean, I think that it's always different.
It's always going to be a little bit different.
But I actually think that going back to the same place makes me feel... a similar feeling or kind of brings me back as the expression yeah so i i like that feel i like to go back okay i like that's how i feel about re-watching movies i like to re-watch the same movies over and over but i don't like to travel to the same places because i want to see a lot of places you know what i mean right i know i know we have i feel like we're um similar in so many ways, but that is one difference.
I do like to go back and really feel like I've spent a lot of time in a place.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Interesting.
Interesting.
Okay.
Well, all right.
What else, Michelle?
There's two more for our listeners here.
What are they?
All right.
Delegate.
So delegate.
Delegate is the noun and delegate is the verb.
What is delegate and delegate?
So delegate?
Aren't these the people that are involved with voting, like the voter that they represent voters in the voting system?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Right, right.
So it's like somebody representing.
Yeah, it's weird.
I mean, we don't have a direct democracy in the U.S.
We have, I don't know what the, I guess a constitutional republic, right?
Where essentially, we have people that represent groups of voters and they go and they place their vote.
Right. but we have the popular vote and then you have the electoral vote is what they call it.
Yeah.
So delegate, delegate.
So the delegate from New York is here.
The delegate from New York is here.
Sounds so fancy.
And then we have delegate, right?
If you're overwhelmed, don't be shy.
Just delegate some tasks.
So this one is different, right?
Because we've been talking about how the meanings are similar, but here it's, it's pretty different.
I think it's pretty similar though.
I think it's linked because if you think about it it's like representation.
It's kind of representation.
Like this person has been delegated to go and be your delegate to represent.
True.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
I can see the connection.
They're not, it's not as direct as the others though.
I got it.
I got it.
Yeah.
You got it.
Yeah.
Let's do one more.
So this one is separate.
Okay.
Okay.
Um, so you can say separate as, so this is interesting.
Um, well, let's start with the verb to separate.
Okay.
Um, separate.
I have, uh, I have, sorry, I lost my spot.
We have to separate the egg whites before putting them into the mix.
Yes.
Yes.
To make them separate.
Right.
Essentially.
So this one separate, the short form could be a noun or or it could be an adjective, right?
To make them separate the adjective form.
Right.
Do we have a noun example?
Yeah.
So this is interesting.
So, right.
Yeah.
Clothing, right?
When you say, oh, these items are separates, right?
What does that mean?
A separate?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So we don't use this as much as really just specifically for clothes, isn't it?
So these are just, it means the shirt and the pants are separate. not connected.
They don't have to go together on a set, right?
Yeah.
It's not a set.
Exactly.
So they can mix and match separates, right?
Right.
If you're into fashion.
Yes, exactly.
So yeah, you could say these items are separates, but you still have to pay for them together.
Nice.
And then adjective form.
I have two separate bags that I use to organize everything for trips.
So two different, essentially two different bags, right?
Right.
Right.
Yeah.
So that's kind of an interesting, a wild card one, because we also have an adjective form that's actually used more than the noun.
I would say
Oh, way more.
Yeah, I would say so too.
So here's the verb form.
We have to separate the eggs.
Oh, we said this before, but we'll say it again.
The egg whites before putting them into the mix, right?
Yes.
Right.
So we're dividing them, like we're dividing the whites from the yolks.
Love it.
All right.
Let's mix this up into a role play, because I think it'll become really clear for our listeners if we do that.
Should we do that?
All right.
So we're going to use as many as we can.
All right.
Here we are friends and we're in line to get into a concert.
Okay.
Here we go.
All right.
This is going to be great.
Wait, is that my ticket?
No, this is a duplicate.
I accidentally made a copy.
Oh, okay.
Did you know the lead singer only graduated from high school three years ago?
Wow, so young?
A recent high school graduate.
Seriously, I just hope she advocates for herself so she gets paid enough.
You definitely have to be your own advocate in this business.
Right, I wonder how many people will be here.
Looking at the line, it's hard to give an estimate, but I estimate maybe 300.
That sounds about right.
Oh gosh, I'm getting work emails now.
You really need to start delegating your tasks to your team.
Oh, you're right.
Nice.
So here we used a lot of different forms and we switched between the long form and then the noun form.
Yep.
So let's see what we did here, Michelle.
What's the first one?
Okay.
So I said, wait, is that my ticket?
And you said, no, this is a duplicate.
So what's another word you could have said instead of duplicate?
This is a copy, which I did say.
Or this, I guess those are the only two options there.
Yeah, that's what I would say.
Yeah.
I'm not sure why I'm making copies of what I'm doing here, but sketchy things, duplicating tickets and trying to sell them on the black market.
Maybe i don't know, let's see.
I gotta calm down, all right.
And then you said, or you said, oh okay, did you know?
The lead singer only graduated from high school three years ago, right?
So here we have the verb form graduate eight right, uh-huh.
And then you said wow, so young, a recent high school graduate.
So that's the noun form, good.
And then you said seriously, I just hope she advocates for herself so she can get paid enough.
So advocates, that's the verb form.
And then you said you definitely have to be your own advocate in this business, Lindsay.
What's another time when people say like, be your own advocate.
That's a yeah it, Hmm.
Good question.
Michelle makes me think of health.
That's what I was thinking.
Yep.
Especially women, because a lot of health research is based on men's bodies.
And there's like, especially as women get older, there's not a ton of research out there.
So women really have to advocate advocate for themselves.
So that's very common.
You'll hear that when people are talking about health.
Sometimes if somebody, a doctor is saying, oh, no, all your tests look fine.
If you don't feel well, you have to say, no, this is not right.
It's so true because doctors, they see so many patients every day and they just move to the next person.
And if you don't stick up for yourself and be your own advocate, something big could get missed, right.
Yes, exactly.
So very common to hear it used like that.
Um, and then you said, uh, I said, I wonder how many people will be here.
And you said, looking at the line, it's hard to give an estimate, but I estimate maybe 300.
Exactly.
So here we used both forms in one sentence.
It's hard to get an estimate as the noun, but I estimate as the verb, maybe 300, right?
Yep.
Yep.
And then the final thing I said, you really need to start delegating your tasks to your team.
So the verb form there, delegating.
Delegating.
Wow.
Oh, wow.
Good episode today.
Really important episode for our listeners because essentially, you look at the word and it's exactly the same right.
Right.
And you know when you're in the moment, when you're reading, you know, especially if maybe you have to read something out loud or in a presentation.
You know Yeah.
I mean, Lindsay, any tips for how to quickly make that decision?
I think pay attention to context.
I think that's really it.
You're right.
I see native speakers make mistakes when they're reading things out loud with this too, right?
They do make mistakes, but just being centered, being present and paying attention to exactly what you're reading.
So you kind of predict, it's the power of prediction.
Open your brain box.
Predict what is going to be the form that you're going to use next, based on what you're saying.
Right.
Yeah.
And again, if you say the wrong one, let's say you're reading something, just stop and correct it.
Right.
Because again, Lindsay's right.
Like I could definitely hear if I was reading something out loud.
I could say oh no, this is a, this is a duplicate.
Oh, duplicate.
Right.
Yeah.
That happens all the time.
So don't stress about it.
If you make a mistake, just try and make that correction.
Just make it immediately after.
No one will notice it happened.
Exactly.
Don't lose your center.
Don't lose the connection.
Just keep going and make that correction and move on.
Michelle, there was another episode that our listeners should check out, which is 2512, just a few episodes back.
How to riff in English for better small talk.
I love this.
We had a two part series where we had a writer, a guest writer from the New York Times come on.
Aubrey interviewed them.
Amazing.
Talking about this concept of riffing instead of typical small talk topics.
How can we actually make small talk interesting?
It's riffing.
And we want to find out what that is.
So go don't miss that episode, guys.
Awesome.
So much fun.
All right.
Takeaway from today is, you know, what we already really talked about so much here.
But again, think about that it and a the long and short vowel sounds depending on the context.
So we said nouns are generally the short estimate.
Verbs are generally longer estimate.
And that's that's what you should walk away from today with.
Love it.
So good.
All right, Michelle, thanks for being on the mic today.
Guys, hit the follow button if you love the show.
And Michelle, I'll see you back here very soon.
See you later.
Bye, guys.
Okay, bye.
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