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Hello, everyone. My name is Fiona.
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Today we're going to be looking at two words. These two words.
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They look the same and they almost sound the same,
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but they're different.
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Keep watching to find out what the difference is
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and to help improve your English pronunciation and English listening skills.
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Let's get started.
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First I'll say the sentence quickly.
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Really listen.
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'I'm close to the door so I'll close it.'
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Now again, but slower.
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'I'm close to the door so I'll close it.'
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Okay let's see the sentence.
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'I'm close to the door so I'll close it.'
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What words go in these two gaps? Any ideas?
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Well the answer is - 'I'm close to the door so I'll close it.'
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You can see that they look the same, but they mean different things.
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Now, let's have a look at our two words. We have 'close' and 'close'.
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They are spelled in the same way,
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but they have different meanings and different pronunciation.
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It's what we call a heteronym.
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Now what's a heteronym? Two words.
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Same spelling. Different meaning. Different pronunciation.
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Okay let's start with the meaning and pronunciation of our first word -
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'close'
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'close' is an adjective. It means that something is near to me.
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I have two sentences to help show this. The first one,
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'You're standing too close to me.'
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The person is too near.
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They're taking up my room - my space. It's a physical distance.
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You're too close to me.
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The second sentence isn't a physical distance,
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but an emotional one.
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'My mother and I are very close.'
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My mother isn't here right now.
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We're not physically close, we're emotionally close.
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We have a very good relationship.
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Okay let's practice pronunciation.
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The word is 'close'.
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Repeat after me.
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'close'
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Now let's look at the meaning and pronunciation of our second word.
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'close'
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'close' is a verb. An action word.
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It means to shut. The opposite is to open.
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I have two sentences to show you this.
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First one,
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'Please close the window. I'm cold.'
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I'm asking you to shut the window.
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Sentence number two -
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'I close my eyes before I sleep.'
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'I close my eyes before I sleep.'
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Now let's have a look at pronunciation.
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Repeat after me.
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'close'
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Now let's have a look at our main sentence.
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'I'm close to the door so I'll close it.'
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We've looked at 'close' and 'close',
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but let's not forget 'I'm' and 'I'll'.
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I'm close - I'm near to the door so I'll close it. I'll shut it.
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I will do it.
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Okay let's practice.
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I'm gonna say it slowly to start and then we'll speed up.
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'I'm close to the door so I'll close it'
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'I'm close to the door so I'll close it'
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Well done.
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Great job guys.
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You got some awesome English listening and English pronunciation practice in today.
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If you want to leave a comment to let me know what you thought of this video,
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leave them down below.
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And, as always, I'm really really thankful for my student's support.
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I'll see you in the next video.