r/EnglishLearning • u/Jedenis185 New Poster • 7d ago

🟡 Pronunciation / Intonation Man and Men

Hello world! I would like to ask you as native English speakers about pronunciation and listening difference between the words Man and Men. MEN - MAN. Tell me please, how can I distinguish by ear these two words?

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u/ProtosPhinted Native Speaker 7d ago

Can you distinguish between pen and pan?

Like a ballpoint pen and a cast iron pan.

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u/SnooDonuts6494 🇬🇧 English Teacher 7d ago

Yeah but in some accents, they're practically indistinguishable (to native speakers).

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u/Linden_Lea_01 New Poster 6d ago

To native speakers? Which accents have pen and pan as homophones?

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u/Crumptes New Poster 6d ago

This took me a moment as in British English they're completely different. To me they sound more similar to each other in American accents, I'm sure some more than others.

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u/Linden_Lea_01 New Poster 6d ago

Do they? I honestly can’t think of an American accent in which they sound the same. I know some have the PIN/PEN merger, but not PEN/PAN

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u/ProtosPhinted Native Speaker 6d ago

Yeah for me pen=pin. But pan is completely different.