In today’s episode you’ll learn how to pronounce the slight difference between the words “Pepper” and “Paper” in English.

Embarrassing English Errors Ep12: Pepper & Paper

G’day guys. Welcome to this episode of Embarrassing English Errors.

Today we are going to go over the words “Pepper” and “Paper”. So, the “eh” and “ay” vowel sounds.

So, what is “Pepper”? “Pepper” is a pungent hot tasting spice that is often added to foods to flavour them. Or it could also be what we would more say in Australian English, “Capsicum”, but you could also say red, green or yellow peppers. So, red pepper, green pepper, yellow peppers. They’re a type of vegetable.

“Paper” is a material manufactured into thin sheets from wood pulp. You write on paper. Books are made from paper.

Um… so what are some other words in English that sound like “Pepper” and use that “eh ah” sound in them?

Leper

Better

Beggar

Cheddar

Clever

Never

Terror

Weather

Teller

And what are some other English words that have that “Ay” or “Ay eh” sound in them like “Paper”?

Later

Payer

Layer

Acre

Baker

Crater

Labour

Waiter

Player

So, you can obviously see that if you were to go to a restaurant and ask a waiter for something like “Paper” instead of “Pepper” he may bring you the wrong thing. So, if you asked for “Pepper” he’ll bring you pepper, but if you accidentally said “Paper” he might bring you some paper to write on instead of “Pepper”.

So, we can practice the vowel sound now five times back to back. The “Eh” and “Ay”.

Eh – ay x 5

And now “Epper” and “Aper” five times.

Epper – Aper x 5

And now we can do “Pepper” and “Paper” five times.

Pepper – paper x 5

So, that’s all for this episode guys. Remember to send me a message or a comment on Facebook if you have any other words that can be easily mispronounced and confused with one another, or even if you just have some other pronunciation questions. Send me a message of a comment on Facebook or message me on the website. Have a good one guys!

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