Heteronym
"Dove" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say DUV when it means a bird, symbol of peace (noun), and DOHV when it means past tense of "dive" (verb). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
noun
DUV
a bird, symbol of peace
“A white dove flew by.”
verb
DOHV
past tense of "dive"
“She dove into the pool.”
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 |
|---|---|---|
| DUV | noun | a bird, symbol of peace |
| DOHV | verb | past tense of "dive" |
"Dove" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say DUV when it means a bird, symbol of peace (noun), and DOHV when it means past tense of "dive" (verb). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
Pronounced DUV, "dove" is a noun meaning a bird, symbol of peace. For example: "A white dove flew by."
Pronounced DOHV, "dove" is a verb meaning past tense of "dive". For example: "She dove into the pool."
"Dove" 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 “dove”, browse all 76 heteronyms and stress pairs, or learn how English stress works.