I.D. vs IDEA

TRANSCRIPT

Hi guys. It’s Hadar and this is the Accent’s Way, your way to finding clarity, confidence, and freedom in English.

And today I want to talk about the two words – “I.D.” and “idea”. I.D. as in “Identity Document”, and idea as in “that’s such a great idea”.

So, they sound almost the same, but listen to the difference. In the word I.D., then you have the first syllable -‘ai’, and then the second syllable – ‘dee’, high E. ‘ai-dee’. The stress is on the second syllable – ‘ai-DEE’. “Can I see your I.D.?” I.D.

In the word “idea”, okay, you actually say ‘ai-dee’, but then you relax your tongue to a schwa sound. ‘ai-dee-uh’, uh, uh. So there is this extra syllable at the end: ‘ai-dee-uh’.

And in the middle, because we connect both bowels, you have a Y sound. Listen: ‘ai-dee-[y]uh’ ‘ai-dee-[y]uh’. “Can I see your I.D.?” and “idea”.

“That’s such a great idea”. If you skip the final part – ‘ai-dee-UH’ – and just say ‘ai-dee’: “that’s such a great I.D.”. It just doesn’t sound right. “I.D.”, that’s something else.

“Idea”. So don’t forget to end it with this ‘uh’ sound at the end – “idea”.

Alright, that’s it. Short and simple. Have a wonderful week. Don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t yet, and I will see you next week in the next video. Bye.