WAEC 2018 English Language · Question 33

pure — choose the word that has the same vowel sound as the one represented by the letter(s) underlined

Question

From the words lettered A to D, choose the word that has the same vowel sound as the one represented by the letter(s) underlined. pure

In the original paper part of this question is underlined. The underline isn't shown here: see the explanation below.

A.sure
B.you
C.curse
D.more

Answer: A. sure

Explanation written with AI and checked against the answer key

Question analysis: The underlined letters in "pure" aren't shown here, but the vowel sound in "pure" is /ʊə/ (as in "poor"), or /jʊə/ if you include the "y" glide. We need the option with the same vowel sound.

Concept: "pure" is pronounced /pjʊə/ (British/Nigerian standard), so the vowel sound is the centring diphthong /ʊə/.

Checking each option:

A. sure is /ʃʊə/ (or /ʃɔː/ in some accents). The vowel is /ʊə/, which matches "pure".
B. you is /juː/. This is a long /uː/ sound, so it doesn't match.
C. curse is /kɜːs/. This is the long /ɜː/ sound, so it doesn't match.
D. more is /mɔː/. This is the long /ɔː/ sound, so it doesn't match.

Answer: Option A, sure, has the /ʊə/ vowel sound, the same as "pure".

Tip: For vowel-sound questions, say each word aloud and write its phonetic form in your head. Words ending in "-ure" such as pure, cure, sure, tour, poor usually share the /ʊə/ sound. Be careful with "you", which looks like it could match because of the /j/ glide in "pure", but its vowel is /uː/, not /ʊə/.

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