Pronouncing verbs and nouns
Learning English Vocabulary
BBC
4.5 • 523 Ratings
🗓️ 23 February 2026
⏱️ 6 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
So you want a salary increase? Who doesn't? But do you pronounce 'increase' with the stress on the first syllable in, or the second syllable crease? The answer depends on whether you're using increase as a noun or a verb... And that's the subject that Neil and Catherine are talking about in this 6 Minute Vocabulary programme.
Visit our website ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish
Follow us ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/followus
Discover Beating Speaking Anxiety: ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/beating_speaking_anxiety
Learn more English for Work: ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/business-english Subscribe to our newsletter: ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/newsletters
LIKE PODCASTS? Try some of our other popular podcasts including: ✔️ 6 Minute English ✔️ Learning English for Work ✔️ Learning English Conversations
They're all available by searching in your podcast app.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:05.5 | This is a download from BBC Learning English. |
| 0:09.3 | To find out more, visit our website. |
| 0:13.0 | Six Minutes Vocabulary. |
| 0:15.3 | From BBC Learning English. |
| 0:19.8 | Hello and welcome to six-minute vocabulary. I'm Catherine. And I'm Neil. |
| 0:28.4 | Oh, Catherine. Yeah. A present? Yes. How kind. It's not even my birthday. I know, but every day's a present day in learning English. |
| 0:40.1 | Actually, I bought it because the word present is a key word for the topic we're going to |
| 0:45.8 | present in this programme. Ah. Yeah. Present and present. Yes. They're spelt the same way, |
| 0:53.4 | but we say them differently. |
| 0:55.1 | That's right, because today we're talking about words that are spelled the same, |
| 0:59.7 | but pronounce differently depending on whether we're using them as nouns or verbs. |
| 1:05.0 | Like present and present. |
| 1:07.8 | So the present you gave me is a noun. |
| 1:11.0 | That's right, and we're presenting six-minute vocabulary. |
| 1:15.1 | Present here is a verb. |
| 1:17.3 | We'll be giving you more examples. |
| 1:19.1 | And we'll have a quiz, so listen carefully. |
| 1:21.4 | And we'll also bring you a top tip for learning vocabulary. |
| 1:25.7 | And I've got an invite for Catherine to my party. |
| 1:29.8 | And it's not even your birthday. |
| 1:31.5 | It's my birthday every day. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.