Why is live pronounced life?

When reading, it is sometimes difficult to know which word is being used in a sentence and how to pronounce the word phonetically. The word live is derived from the Old English word, lifian, which means to be alive. Live (lighv) is an adjective that means to be alive or to be happening right now.

Why is live and live pronounced differently?

In the current context, ‘live’ is used as an adjective rather than the verb usage as in ‘I live here’. Hence the difference in pronunciation. Very often in English language, words are used in more than one part of speech, as in a noun, a verb, an adjective etc. These words fall into a category called ‘Heteronyms’.

Why does live have two pronunciations?

Live can be a verb, or an adjective. When it is used as verb, it is pronounced /lɪv/; when it is used as adjective, it is pronounced /laɪv/. In the first case, the i in live is pronounced as the i in miss; in the second case, the i is pronounced as the i in hive.

What’s difference between live and live?

Life is a noun. Eg… “I have a great life.” “I wish you a long life.” Live is an adjective ( “The band is live.”) and a verb — “He lives in Ireland.”

Which is correct lives or lifes?

Lifes is a common error for someone trying to spell the plural of life. Lives is the correct spelling of the plural word for life. It also is the third-person singular conjugation for the verb to live.

Why is put and but pronounced differently?

The difference between the initial consonant is primarily one of aspiration. In put, there is a puff of air at the release of the consonant (it is aspirated); in but, there is no such puff of air (it is unaspirated). In addition, the consonant in but may be voiced – that is, pronounced with the vocal cords vibrating.

Why is have pronounced?

In Old English, have did have a short vowel, but so did many other words that are now pronounced with “long a.” So the difference in modern pronunciation cannot be explained by Old English vowel length. The reason “have” is pronounced with a short rather than a long vowel seems to be that the word is often unstressed.