cent · scent

cent /sɛnt/ vs scent /sɛnt/ — homophones. Both use the short /ɛ/ vowel and end in /nt/. And “sent” (past tense of send) sounds exactly the same too — three homophones in one!

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🔊 These two words sound EXACTLY the same

/sɛnt/

And so does sent (past tense of send) — three homophones in English!

⠿ reorder

noun — one hundredth of a dollar or euro — '99 cents' · 'per cent' · the C at the start sounds like /s/

mouth shape

short /ɛ/ — mouth slightly open, tongue mid-low — like 'bed', 'red', 'ten'

cent

/sɛnt/

vowel length

short /ɛ/

⠿ reorder

noun — a smell, especially a pleasant one — 'the scent of roses' · 'perfume scent' · dogs follow a scent trail

mouth shape

identical to cent — /sɛnt/ — the SC at the start also sounds like /s/ — the C is silent!

scent

/sɛnt/

vowel length

short /ɛ/

Triple homophone spotlight

cent

a coin

scent

a smell

sent

past of “send”

All three are /sɛnt/. The C in cent, the SC in scent, and the S in sent all produce the same /s/ sound.

Key difference

There is no pronunciation difference — all three are /sɛnt/. Remember by meaning: cent has “c” for coin · scent has silent C for smell · sentis the irregular past of “send”.

Example sentences

cent:“It only costs 99 cents.”

scent:“I love the scent of fresh flowers.”

sent:“I sent you an email yesterday.”

Hear it in a sentence

“He found a single cent wedged under the sofa cushion.”

“The scent of fresh bread drifted out of the bakery onto the street.”

Hear it in the wild

Real speech from native speakers — the most reliable way to check a pronunciation, since automated audio can vary by device and browser.

YouGlish↗

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cent