herd · heard
Homophones — different spelling, different meaning, identical sound /hɜːrd/.
🔊 These two words sound EXACTLY the same
/hɜːrd/
Different spelling. Different meaning. Identical pronunciation.
a group of animals — 'a herd of cows'
mouth shape
tongue curls back slightly — the r-coloured /ɜːr/ like 'bird', 'word', 'heard', 'third'
herd
/hɜːrd/
vowel length
past tense of hear — 'I heard a noise' — sounds exactly like 'herd'
mouth shape
identical to herd — /hɜːrd/ — same r-coloured vowel, different spelling
heard
/hɜːrd/
vowel length
Spelling spotlight
herd
group of animals
heard
past tense of hear
contains the word ear
Key difference
No pronunciation difference — both are /hɜːrd/. The vowel is r-coloured: tongue curls back, neither back nor front, like the -er in butter or bird. A spelling trick: heard contains the word ear — you hear with your ear, and you heard.
Example sentences
herd:“A herd of cows grazed in the field.”
herd:“The herd moved slowly across the plains.”
heard:“I heard a strange noise last night.”
heard:“Have you heard the news?”
Hear it in a sentence
“A herd of elephants crossed the road in front of the safari jeep.”
“I heard the news on the radio while driving to work this morning.”
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.
herd
Hear native speakers say “herd” in real sentences — news, lectures, and podcasts.
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heard
Hear native speakers say “heard” in real sentences — news, lectures, and podcasts.
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How teachers explain this
Approved tips from the community, sorted by helpfulness
Word families
herd family ▸
hear family (heard is past tense) ▸
Related pairs
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