Financial Vocabulary: Pronunciation the Same or Different
Without looking below, listen to two words or expressions related to finance and indicate if you think that the pronunciation is exactly the same (like “be” and “bee”) or is similar but different (like. “colleague” and “college”). You don’t need to think about the meaning, but you can ask for one or both to be put into context if you aren’t sure.
Mark the lines below with S for “the same pronunciation” and D for “different pron”.
Financial Vocabulary Homophones and Minimal Pairs to Classify
- (savings) account/ a count (or a duke)
- asset (stripping)/ a set (of cutlery)
- (investment) bank/ bunk (bed)
- (Wall Street) banker/ (nuclear) bunker
- bear (market)/ bare (skin)
- bear (market)/ (pint of) beer
- bond (trader)/ (big) boned
- (winter) bonus/ (staff) bonuses
- boom (in demand)/ (went down like a) bomb
- bought (from a department store)/ (rowing) boat
- (bank) branch/ (Sunday) brunch
- budget (for)/ budge it (up to the end)
- business (meeting)/ busyness (at the weekend)
- (boom and) bust/ bussed (to the next town)
- buy (and sell)/ by (bus)
- cash (and carry)/ (secret) cache
- (traveller’s) cheque/ check (the information)
- (blue) chip (stocks)/ cheap (prices)
- (a steep) climb/ (a serious) crime
- (inflation) climbs/ (sunny) climes
- core (business)/ co-(owner)
- corporation (tax)/ cooperation (between teams)
- (market) crash/ crush (the can before recycling)
- credit (card)/ (leading) creditor
- (a debt) crisis/ (some debt) crises
- current (account)/ currant (bun)
- cut (costs)/ cat (or dog)
- de-(fault on a debt)/ D (class shares)
- (government) debt/ debit (card)
- dollar (trade)/ (baby) doll
- (over)draft/ draught (under the door)
- (fixed) fee/ he (or she)
- file (for bankruptcy)/ vile (character)
- financial advice (from him)/ (certified) financial advisor
- fraud (prevention)/ flawed (plan)
- (investment) fund/ fanned (with folded paper)
- (capital) gains/ (walking) canes
- (obtain a government) grant/ grunt (of effort)
- gross (profit)/ grows (exponentially)
- gross (profit)/ (rapid) growth
- heir (to the fortune)/ (hot) air
- heir (to the fortune)/ (blonde) hair
- hire (car)/ fire (wrongdoers)
- holding (company)/ folding (paper)
- leased (back)/ least (interesting)
- lends (to SMEs)/ (camera) lens
- (home) loan/ lone (wolf)
- (home) loan/ (green) lawn
- lose (half of your investment)/ loose (regulations)
- (all-time) low/ law (and order)
- merge (with a competitor)/ merger(s and acquisitions)
- pay (for)/ payee (and payer)
- (reach a) peak/ peek (into the room)
- pound (Sterling)/ pound (of weight, = lb)
- pre(-tax)/ pray (at a shrine)
- profit (and loss)/ prophet (of doom)
- (pay) raise/ (laser) rays
- (exchange) rate/ late (payment)
- (inflation) rate/ (police) raid
- re-(structuring)/ ray (of sunlight)
- rise (in value)/ (brown) rice
- (stock prices) rose/ rows (of figures)
- (fire) sale/ sail (across the sea)
- (tax) scam/ scum (on the pond)
- seed (funding)/ (comfortable) seat
- seller (and buyer)/ (wine) cellar
- slash (taxes)/ slush (on the street)
- (share price) soared/ (sharp) sword
- source (of income)/ (Worcestershire) sauce
- (take a) stake/ (rare) steak
- (real-time) stats/ (current) status
- stock (picking)/ (long) stalk
- surge (in interest)/ serge (suit)
- (government) support/ (aerobic) sport
- (corporation) tax/ tux (and bowtie)
- (financial) trouble/ (leisure) travel
- wind (up the bankrupt company)/ wind (and rain)
- wind (up the local subsidiary)/ wined (and dined)
- (Korean) Won/ won (the race)
- wound (up and ceased trading)/ (bleeding) wound
Cards to Hold Up
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The same
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Different
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The same
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Different
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The same
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Different
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The same
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Different
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The same
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Different
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The same
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Different
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The same
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Different
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Check as a class, then test each other on the words:
- Play the same or different game in groups
- Say two which are different and see if your partner can explain the difference in pronunciation (and maybe meaning)
- Choose one of the D lines and either say both examples there or say the same one twice, and see if your partner can see if they are pronounced the same or different
- Spell one which is on an S line above and see if your partner can spell the homophone
- Show your partner one line above and challenge them to pronounce both correctly, checking that they pronounce them the same or differently
- Say both words on one line, say a context that only matches one of the words, and see if your partner can say the right one back
Financial Vocabulary Pronunciation and Spelling Error Correction
Each line has a mistake due to the wrong homophone or a similar-sounding word. Correct the mistakes.
- savings account
- asset stripping
- investment bank
- Wall Street banker
- bear market
- bank branch
- busyness meeting
- boom and bust
- buy and sell
- cash and carry
- blue chip stocks
- a steep climb
- cooperation tax
- market crash
- credit card
- a debt crisis
- current account
- cut costs
- default on a debt
- government debt
- overdraft
- file for bankruptcy
- investment fund
- capital gains tax
- obtain a government grant
- gross profit
- heir to the fortune
- hire car
- holding company
- lends to SMEs
- home loan
- lose half of your investment
- all-time low
- merges and acquisitions
- reach a peak
- pre-tax
- profit and loss
- pay raise
- exchange rate
- inflation rate
- restructuring
- rise in value
- stock prices rose
- fire sale
- tax scam
- seed funding
- seller and buyer
- slash taxes
- share price soared
- source of income
- take a stake
- real-time stats
- stock picking
- surge in interest
- government support
- corporation tax
- financial trouble
- wind up the bankrupt company
- wind up the local subsidiary
- Korean Won
- wound up and ceased trading
Check above.
Without looking above again, pronounce the corrected ones in the right way and classify the mistakes as due to homophones (H) or minimal pairs (M).
