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Hello and welcome to 6 Minute Vocabulary.
I'm Catherine.
And I'm Neil.
Oh, Catherine.
Yeah.
A present?
Yes.
What?
How kind.
It's not even my birthday.
I know, Neil, but every day's a present day in learning English.
Actually, I bought it because the word present is a key word for the topic we're going to present in this programme.
Ah, present and present.
Yes.
They're spelt the same way, but we say them differently.
That's right, because today we're talking about words that are spelt the same but pronounced differently depending on whether we're using them as nouns or verbs.
Like present and present.
So the present you gave me is a noun.
That's right, and we're presenting six-minute vocabulary.
Present here is a verb.
We'll be giving you more examples.
And we'll have a quiz, so listen carefully.
And we'll also bring you a top tip for learning vocabulary.
And I've got an invite for Catherine to my party.
And it's not even your birthday!
It's my birthday every day.
OK, I'll come to your party then.
Well, more about that invite later.
But first, let's hear Lucy talking about Sam Smith, her favourite singer.
Neil, Sam Smith, are you a fan?
I wouldn't say I'm a fan, but I'm aware of his work.
Oh, good.
Anyway, here's Lucy and she is a big Sam Smith fan.
Think about this question while you listen.
Will the number of people who want to go to his concerts go up or down?
I want to hear him sing Stay With Me.
It won Record of the Year at the Grammys.
I hope he'll record some new songs soon, but that will mean an increase in people wanting concert tickets.
MUSIC
So we asked you will the number of people who want to go to Sam Smith concerts go up or will it go down?
And the answer is, it will go up.
Lucy says there will be an increase in people wanting concert tickets.
Yes, and increase here is a noun, so the stress is on the first syllable – increase.
But Lucy also used the same word as a verb.
Listen to this clip.
Where does the stress fall this time?
Sometimes, when that happens, they increase the number of concert dates.
This time the stress falls on the second syllable – increase because Lucy's using the word as a verb.
Other nouns and verbs with the same spelling move the stress from the first to the second syllable in the same way, like the noun decrease.
Which becomes decrease when it's a verb.
And there is, of course, Neil, the invite you gave me to your party.
Yes, invite here is a noun with the stress on the first syllable.
But if I say to Catherine, I want to invite you to my party on Saturday…
Invite is a verb with the stress falling on the second syllable.
Don't worry, Catherine, I haven't forgotten.
Nor have I, Neil.
I'm looking forward to it.
And here's another clip from Lucy.
Listen out for another word she uses as a noun and a verb with different stress patterns.
I want to hear him sing Stay With Me.
It won Record of the Year at the Grammys.
I hope he'll record some new songs soon.
We had record and record.
Record is the noun, so the stress is on the first syllable.
And record is the verb, so the stress is on the second syllable.
We're talking about nouns and verbs that are spelt the same but pronounced differently, like a record and to record.
And we stress the first syllable when the word is a noun and the second syllable when the word is a verb.
And now it's time for a quiz, so get ready.
Which is the correct way to say the missing word in these sentences?
Number one.
Michael Phelps has the... for the most Olympic gold medals.
Is it a record or b record?
It's record because it's a noun.
Well done if you got that right.
Number two.
We hope that sales will...
And the answer is b, increase, because it's a verb.
And finally, number three.
For my friends, they're getting married tomorrow.
Is it a, present, or b, present?
Present.
It's a present because it's a noun.
And that's the end of the quiz, so well done if you got them right.
And it's almost the end of the programme.
But before we go, here's today's top tip for learning vocabulary.
When you look up a word in an online dictionary, listen to the audio and try to copy the word stress.
If possible, record yourself saying the word.
Then compare your pronunciation with the audio from the dictionary.
There's more about this at bbclearningenglish.com.
Join us again for more 6 Minute Vocabulary.
Bye.
Bye.
This is not the future we were promised.
Like, how about that for a tagline for the show?
From the BBC.
This is The Interface, the show that explores how tech is rewiring your week and your world.
And all the bizarre ways people are using the internet.
Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
