birdeen's call
VIP Member
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2010
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- Polish
- Home Country
- Poland
- Current Location
- Poland
I have a difficulty with understanding what rhymes in English and what doesn't. I know the definition of rhyme, and I can rhyme in my own language. The problem in English is that it has this enormous number of vowels and regional differences in pronunciation.
Let's take this limerick:
A boy from Berlin used to bother
His jaded, worn-out, poor old mother
He said to her, "Mom,
I want to have some
New sisters, and one little brother."
I have three problems here.
1. Can I rhyme "mother" with "bother"? As far as I know, the letter "o" denotes different sounds in these words (/ʌ/, and /ɒ/). I understand the difference between these sounds. But when I read these lines I pronounce both words in the same, rhyming manner, and I hear nothing wrong about it. I'd like to know how native speakers would do it. I hear so many English accents (and Polish English is important here) that it's very hard for me to get the right pronunciation of vowels sometimes. I actually think that mastering the vowels is the hardest thing in learning English (maybe the prepositions are as hard).
2. Can I rhyme "mom" and "some"? (I think it's the same problem.)
3. Could I rhyme "bother" with "father"? I think it's even more tricky than the previous ones. For me, both letters "o" in "bother", and "a" in "father" denote longer vowels. In Polish, all vowels have the same length but I think it's not the case in English. So can it make a rhyme in English?
Let's take this limerick:
A boy from Berlin used to bother
His jaded, worn-out, poor old mother
He said to her, "Mom,
I want to have some
New sisters, and one little brother."
I have three problems here.
1. Can I rhyme "mother" with "bother"? As far as I know, the letter "o" denotes different sounds in these words (/ʌ/, and /ɒ/). I understand the difference between these sounds. But when I read these lines I pronounce both words in the same, rhyming manner, and I hear nothing wrong about it. I'd like to know how native speakers would do it. I hear so many English accents (and Polish English is important here) that it's very hard for me to get the right pronunciation of vowels sometimes. I actually think that mastering the vowels is the hardest thing in learning English (maybe the prepositions are as hard).
2. Can I rhyme "mom" and "some"? (I think it's the same problem.)
3. Could I rhyme "bother" with "father"? I think it's even more tricky than the previous ones. For me, both letters "o" in "bother", and "a" in "father" denote longer vowels. In Polish, all vowels have the same length but I think it's not the case in English. So can it make a rhyme in English?
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