Heteronym
"Close" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say KLOHS when it means nearby (adjective), and KLOHZ when it means to shut (verb). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
adjective
KLOHS
nearby
“The store is close to my house.”
verb
KLOHZ
to shut
“Please close the door.”
Each button speaks the respelling, not the spelling — otherwise the speech engine would pick a single default pronunciation for both senses.
| Pronunciation | Part of speech | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| KLOHS | adjective | nearby |
| KLOHZ | verb | to shut |
"Close" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say KLOHS when it means nearby (adjective), and KLOHZ when it means to shut (verb). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
Pronounced KLOHS, "close" is a adjective meaning nearby. For example: "The store is close to my house."
Pronounced KLOHZ, "close" is a verb meaning to shut. For example: "Please close the door."
"Close" is a heteronym: two distinct words that happen to be spelled the same way. English spelling did not standardise around pronunciation, so unrelated words sometimes converged on one spelling while keeping separate sounds.
See the full entry for “close”, browse all 76 heteronyms and stress pairs, or learn how English stress works.