# Do these words have the same sound? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 13, 2015, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429 "2015-06-13T10:22:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Reza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reza)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429/1 "2015-06-13T10:22:52Z")
Hi everyone, once again, I’m here with another English Q. In an English test paper from a school, I notice this test: which word has a different sound? A- rule B- use C- chew D- juice I told the student that I think the test is wrong, because they all share the same long (u:) sound. Am I right? P.S: The student later said that when they were in the yard checking their answers they asked the teacher and she told them C is the answer. But the more I checked through at least four or five dictionary the less I could find an evidence as I saw all get (u:) sound. P.S.2: This is not strange that even I noticed some minor mistakes in their English books which they are being taught. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429/2 "2015-06-13T10:28:48Z")
The answer for me is B. I say Yewse, not oose. For the others, I say rool, choo and jooce. Although I think some people do say “chiew” instead of “choo.” ---
**Author:** ![Reza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Reza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reza)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429/3 "2015-06-13T10:35:40Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > The answer for me is B. I say Yewse, not oose. For the others, I say rool, choo and jooce. Although I think some people do say “chiew” instead of “choo.” Thanks, Yes, if we want to split the hair, then it will be “use” which makes a different sound. I see you eye to eye on this. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429/4 "2015-06-13T10:51:19Z")
Did the question specify a different _vowel_ sound? All of them have different sounds! 🙂 That said, I think “use” does use the same vowel sound as the others, it’s just preceded by an unwritten “y” consonant. I’d say that chew comes _closest_ to having a different vowel sound, because I seem to insert a _very slight_ little “eh” before the “oo” – sounding _somewhat_ like cheh-oo, but I can’t tell if that’s just a remnant of the “ch” sound. ---
**Author:** ![Reza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Reza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reza)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429/5 "2015-06-13T10:57:21Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Did the question specify a different _vowel_ sound? All of them have different sounds! 🙂 > > That said, I think “use” does use the same vowel sound as the others, it’s just preceded by an unwritten “y” consonant. I’d say that chew comes _closest_ to having a different vowel sound, because I seem to insert a _very slight_ little “eh” before the “oo” – sounding _somewhat_ like cheh-oo, but I can’t tell if that’s just a remnant of the “ch” sound. No, I don’t think they were looking for a difference to this extent, otherwise all of them with the sounds before and after the main sound (u:) got a slightly and delicately different sound. The main sound in the middle which all share (u:) I suppose! Thanks a lot anyway, ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429/6 "2015-06-13T11:35:12Z")
I would’ve picked A. I say rool, ews, chew, jewse ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429/7 "2015-06-13T11:56:42Z")
> [@Reza](#): > > Hi everyone, > > once again, I’m here with another English Q. > > In an English test paper from a school, I notice this test: > > which word has a different sound? > > A- rule B- use C- chew D- juice > > I told the student that I think the test is wrong, because they all share the same long (u:) sound. > > Am I right? > P.S: The student later said that when they were in the yard checking their answers they asked the teacher and she told them C is the answer. > But the more I checked through at least four or five dictionary the less I could find an evidence as I saw all get (u:) sound. > > P.S.2: This is not strange that even I noticed some minor mistakes in their English books which they are being taught. Another vote for B here. The yoo sound in _use_ is a different pronunciation. There is obviously no _Y_ in the word so it is entirely the u that is sounding differently here imo. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429/8 "2015-06-13T12:14:02Z")
I’d pick A the ul blend sounds different from a u ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429/9 "2015-06-13T12:43:49Z")
I’d have picked A too. Certainly my tongue makes a very different shape in my mouth when pronoucing rule than the others. That’s with an English-with-a-faint-hint-of-Welsh accent. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429/10 "2015-06-13T13:00:46Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > I’d have picked A too. Certainly my tongue makes a very different shape in my mouth when pronoucing rule than the others. > > That’s with an English-with-a-faint-hint-of-Welsh accent. Agreed, it’s A. Midland American English here, hopefully unsullied by many years in the South. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429/11 "2015-06-13T13:22:02Z")
A for me. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429/12 "2015-06-13T13:22:04Z")
Let me give them a try. rewl ewse chew jewce Rool oose choo jooce So I would say B is the one that doesn’t work like the others. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429/13 "2015-06-13T13:32:40Z")
Another problem with the test is that “use” has two different pronunciations. As a verb it’s you-z as a noun it’s you-s. My first thought was that this was what the question was asking. This is the word that has a different sound depending on how it’s used. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429/14 "2015-06-13T13:55:01Z")
That’s a shitty question. They’re all the same for me. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429/15 "2015-06-13T14:09:09Z")
There’s a problem in that, as can be seen by the answers we already have, their pronunciations change by dialect and in some cases even by meaning of the word within the same dialect (see **OldGuy** ’s answer), or by what word comes next, or… What the question was aiming for was probably “in which of these four words does ‘u’ represent a different sound than in the other three?” - but the answer changes depending on which native speaker you ask. The person who prepared the test may have been thinking about received pronunciation (aka “her majesty’s English”, very common for ESL courses) or about their own dialect. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429/16 "2015-06-13T14:18:46Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > The answer for me is B. I say Yewse, not oose. For the others, I say rool, choo and jooce. Although I think some people do say “chiew” instead of “choo.” Yes, this. Use is not ooze but has the y ( IPA j) sound which modifies the vowel. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429/17 "2015-06-13T14:30:07Z")
I’m positive that the intended answer is “B. use” because of the diphthongal use of “u.” [ju] The rest of them use the “u” to represent an ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429/18 "2015-06-13T14:44:55Z")
I would say to this have this question, on a paper-based exam, _ **indicates extremely poor test-design, and a lack of program oversight** _. No printed word has ANY sound. Words on a page do not make sounds. Sounds happen only when people speak (or when speech is synthesized). > [@Nava](#): > > There’s a problem in that, as can be seen by the answers we already have, their pronunciations change by dialect and in some cases even by meaning of the word within the same dialect . . . Exactly. The question cannot be answered until the test-taker _ **hears** _ the words. It’s a ridiculous test item, and highly unprofessional. **Reza** , could you tell us a little of the program in which this test is being administered? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429/19 "2015-06-13T15:10:25Z")
As for “juice,” many Thais seem to be taught to pronounce the U and the I separate;y. My wife has to think about it in order to keep herself from saying “joo-iss” like a lot of English-speaking Thais. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2015, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429/20 "2015-06-13T15:12:20Z")
I would have answered B myself, but what a crappy question. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-these-words-have-the-same-sound/722429.md?page=2)