HETERONYM: MINUTE
During math class, my teacher explained that one hour has sixty minutes, and we practiced solving problems with time. When the bell rang, she gave us one more minute to finish. Later that day, while reading a science book, I found a diagram showing a minute particle, so tiny it could only be seen under a microscope. At dinner, my dad said the board meeting included writing down every minute of the discussion so nothing would be forgotten.
How many meanings did you find?
List of the different ways that this word can be used.
What are your thoughts:
Why do you think the teacher gave the class one extra minute?
How does discovering a minute particle make science feel more interesting?
Why is recording the minutes of a meeting useful?
SPEAK with P • I • E
P — Pronunciation
MINute → a unit of time (60 seconds)
miNUTE → extremely small / very detailed
I — Intonation
The teacher gave us one more MINute to finish.
The diagram showed a miNUTE particle.
We waited a MINute before leaving.
He noticed a miNUTE detail in the report.
E — Expression
MINute (time) → neutral, everyday, measured
miNUTE (small/detail) → careful, precise, observant
