mail · male
Homophones — different spelling, different meaning, identical sound /meɪl/.
🔊 These two words sound EXACTLY the same
/meɪl/
Different spelling. Different meaning. Identical pronunciation.
letters and parcels — 'the morning mail' — also email, airmail
mouth shape
mouth opens ('eh') then glides up — /eɪ/ like 'say', 'day', 'sail', 'tail'
/meɪl/
vowel length
masculine gender — 'male or female?' — sounds exactly like 'mail'
mouth shape
identical to mail — /meɪl/ — same diphthong, different meaning
male
/meɪl/
vowel length
Spelling spotlight
spelled with AI
sail · tail · trail · snail
male
silent E makes A long
tale · pale · sale · vale
Key difference
No pronunciation difference — both are /meɪl/: mouth opens, then glides up to a smile — the /eɪ/ diphthong.mail uses the AI spelling; male uses silent-E. Other AI/silent-E homophones: tail/tale, sail/sale, pain/pane.
Example sentences
mail:“I sent the mail yesterday.”
mail:“Is there any mail for me?”
male:“The form asks if you are male or female.”
Hear it in a sentence
“The mail arrived early and included a letter from the tax office.”
“The male lion rested in the shade while the females hunted nearby.”
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.
Hear native speakers say “mail” in real sentences — news, lectures, and podcasts.
Opens YouTube-sourced clips in a new tab.
male
Hear native speakers say “male” in real sentences — news, lectures, and podcasts.
Opens YouTube-sourced clips in a new tab.
How teachers explain this
Approved tips from the community, sorted by helpfulness
Word families
mail family ▸
male family ▸
Related pairs
Comments
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