Is pronouncing "ate" and "eight" differently wrong? When I say "ate" it sounds like "ate" itself and when I say "eight" it sounds like "ey-ht" is that a wrong pronunciation? I understand pronunciation may differ from one person to another depending on the accent spoken by the person. But one of my friends told me that ate and eight must be pronounced exactly alike and if you're pronouncing them differently you are pronouncing one of the two words wrong.
Learn English – Should “ate” and “eight” be pronounced exactly alike
accentpronunciationpronunciation-vs-spelling
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Best Answer
Not necessarily. In BrE, ate is sometimes pronounced /et/, and the Cambridge Dictionary gives this pronunciation. Even if ate is pronounced like eight, there may well be subtle differences. In AmE, ate and eight appear to be pronounced the same. However, if you are learning English, I would recommend that you pronounce them both the same (/eɪt/).
Cambridge Dictionary: ate
Cambridge Dictionary: eight