Close (adjective) means nearby in space or time, or highly intimate or exact. It describes proximity or thoroughness, as in a close neighborhood or a close, careful examination. The meaning shifts with context and stress, making precision in pronunciation and usage important for clear communication.
- Mispronouncing the vowel: People often say /klɒz/ (short a as in 'lot') instead of /kloʊz/. Practice with the long diphthong; relax your jaw and glide from /o/ to /ʊ/ to maintain /oʊ/ quality. - Dropping the /z/: In rapid speech, you may hear an unvoiced /s/ or a silent end; ensure your vocal cords vibrate for the final /z/ and keep the vowel length consistent. - Over-accurate clipping: Some learners overemphasize the /k/ or break the word into two chunks; keep it as a single smooth syllable. - Avoid mixing with 'clothes' by listening for the slight vowel shift; clothes is /kloʊðz/ in some accents, but standard is /kloʊz/. Practice minimal pairs to maintain contrast.
US: /kloʊz/ with rhotic consonants unaffected; UK: /kləʊz/ or /kləʊz/ with more rounded lip shape and a slightly longer /əʊ/ in some accents; AU: /kləʊz/ similar to UK with a more relaxed jaw. Vowel quality differences: US tends to a strong /oʊ/ diphthong; UK can be more centering with a more closed /əʊ/; AU often sits between, with a bright mid back vowel. Consonants: final /z/ tends to be clear, but in rapid speech may be devoiced to /s/ in some informal registers; ensure voicing by using your vocal cords fully. IPA references: /kloʊz/ (US), /kləʊz/ (UK/AU).
"The store is close to my apartment, just a five-minute walk away."
"They worked in close collaboration to finish the project on time."
"She has a close relationship with her sister."
"The detective came to a close approximation of the suspect’s identity."
Close entered Middle English from the Old French word closes, from Latin clausus meaning 'shut, enclosed'. The adjective senses of 'near' and 'intimate' developed through metaphorical extension from the sense of being shut in or surrounded by proximity. The noun and verb forms share roots with 'close' as in closure or to close, reinforcing the idea of bringing ends together. In English, pronunciation evolved with two common stress patterns: CLOSE (to indicate proximity) with a one-syllable form and a different vowel quality; and CLOSE (as a verb) often unstressed in connected speech, leading to variations like /kloʊz/ for the adjective and /kloʊz/ or /kloʊz/ for the verb depending on emphasis in a sentence. The earliest attestations in English date to the 12th century in legal and spatial contexts, with the sense of being near or tight-knit solidifying in the Late Middle English period. Over time, the word broadened to include abstract closeness, such as closeness of events, relationships, or results, while retaining the core idea of boundary, proximity, and connection.
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💡 These words have similar meanings to "Close" and can often be used interchangeably.
🔄 These words have opposite meanings to "Close" and show contrast in usage.
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Words that rhyme with "Close"
-ose sounds
Practice with these rhyming pairs to improve your pronunciation consistency:
🎵 Rhyme tip: Practicing with rhyming words helps you master similar sound patterns and improves your overall pronunciation accuracy.
Close is pronounced /kloʊz/ when used as the adjective meaning near. The first sound is a hard /k/ with a rounded lips position, followed by /loʊ/ a long, rounded vowel with the jaw dropping slightly and the tongue high in the mouth. End with /z/ a voiced alveolar fricative. In American, UK, and AU varieties, the core is /kloʊz/. Note the potential ambiguity with the verb form, which is often /kloʊz/ as well but can be reduced to /kloʊz/ in rapid speech. Keep steady, full vowel length, and avoid final devoicing in careful speech.
Two common errors: (1) Confusing with 'clothes' by softening the /oʊ/ to a short /o/ or by dropping the /z/; ensure you hold the long /oʊ/ vowel before the voiced /z/. (2) Mis-stressing the syllable in compounds; remember, as a one-syllable word here, there is no secondary stress—pronounce as a single clear unit /kloʊz/. Practice keeping mouth rounded for /oʊ/ and finishing with a clear /z/ rather than a wavering or devoiced end.
In US English, /kloʊz/ with rhotic /r/ influence is not present; the vowel diphthong /oʊ/ is prominent and the /z/ is voiceless/voiced depending on context, but generally voiced. UK English tends to have a slightly more centralized or clipped /əʊ/ quality in some dialects, with non-rhotic tendencies not affecting this word, but the /oʊ/ can be more monophthongal in some accents. Australian English generally maintains the /oʊ/ diphthong with slight raising of the tongue; final /z/ is clear and voiced. Across accents, ensure you maintain the /k/ onset and /z/ ending, but vowel quality and vowel duration can shift.
The challenge lies in maintaining the long /oʊ/ vowel sound in a single-syllable word and transitioning cleanly into the final voiced /z/. In rapid speech, the vowel can reduce or shift, making /oʊ/ merge toward /o/ or /əʊ/. Some speakers also suspect a rhotacized or semi-vowel behavior in certain accents. The subtle difference between the noun/adjective and verb pronunciations can introduce ambiguity; treat this as a single-syllable, long vowel ending in /z/. Focus on the rounded lip position for /oʊ/ and a crisp, voiced /z/.
There is no silent letter in the adjective 'close'. The word is monosyllabic with the sounds /k/ /l/ /oʊ/ /z/ in most dialects. The potential confusion arises from homographs like 'close' (verb) which can have a different rhythm in context but shares the same phonetic core. Ensure you articulate the /k/ and /l/ cleanly before the diphthong /oʊ/, and end with a clearly voiced /z/.
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- Shadowing: Listen to a native speaker saying 'close' in different sentences and imitate exactly, focusing on the mouth shape and timing. Start slow, then speed up. - Minimal pairs: close /kloʊz/ vs clothes /kloʊz/ in certain contexts shows identical phonemes; instead contrast with 'close' (verb) /kloʊz/ vs 'close' (adjective) /kloʊs/? This is tricky; focus on listening to context to learn the subtle voicing differences. Better: use pairs with different vowel length: 'close' /kloʊz/ vs 'clothes' /kloʊðz/ (if you consider /ð/ presence). - Rhythm practice: Keep one-syllable word rhythm; use stress-timed cadence around it in a sentence. Practice with phrases: 'Close to home', 'Very close friend'. - Stress and intonation: Practice sentences with rising/falling intonation that reflect the semantic of the word: proximity vs closeness in argument. - Recording exercises: Record yourself saying 'Close' in multiple sentences; compare with a native speaker; adjust lip rounding on /oʊ/ and keep final /z/ voiced.
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