Know & Now – What’s The Difference? (Confusing English Words) | English In 2 Minutes

Hey guys it’s Shane from English Understood here.

I got a question the other day from a student who said, ‘What’s the difference between know, K N O W, and now, N O W?’

So let’s look at the pronunciation first.

K N O W is pronounced ‘know’. Know. The K is silent and the W is silent.

N O W is pronounced ‘now’. Now. N ow.

So what do these words mean?

Well ‘know’, K N O W means to have knowledge of something. For example, I know how to speak English. I have knowledge in my head about how to speak English.

Now, N O W, is talking about the present time. So for example, it’s 4:45pm so I can say, ‘Right now in the present, it’s 4:45pm.’

Okay let’s test what you hear. I will say a word and you can tell me what you heard.

Now. N O W.

Know. K N O W

Know. K N O W

Okay, I’m going to say some sentences with missing words and I want you to fill in the missing word with ‘no’ K N O W or ‘now’ N O W.

I ___ you want to speak English. I ___ you want to speak English.

It should be ‘I know you want to speak English’ because I have knowledge that you want to speak English.

And the second one, this video is going to finish ____. This video is going to finish ___.

It should be ‘now’ because I am talking about the present.