SOW and SEW

Sow and Sew - What's the Difference?

What do you think is the difference between Sow and Sew?

While ESL students cannot easily identify its difference in spoken English, several students always mix up these similar-sounding words in writing because these vocabularies have the same pronunciation but different spelling. Confused as well? Worry no more because we are here to unlock their differences! Pull a chair and let’s unlock the mystery of the verbs “Sow” and “Sew”.

Dictionary Meaning of 'Sow' and 'Sew'

*Sow means to put seeds in or on the ground so that plants will grow.
*Sew to join two pieces of cloth together by putting the thread through them with a needle.

When to Use Sew

The word “sew” always functions as a verb unlike the word “sow” which can be a noun. This verb has two meanings, however, most of the time, we use the word when talking about the thread and a needle or a sewing machine in joining pieces of cloth together. The word “sew” is synonymous with the word “stitch”.

For example:

-I learned to sew at school.

We can also use the verb ”sew’  to express that someone has finished a task.

For example:

-Their team has sewn up the volleyball championship.

When to Use Sow

If you like gardening very much, I bet this verb is not new to you anymore. Why? Because the word has the same meaning as the verb “plant”.  Unlike the verb ‘sew’,  the word ‘sow’ as a verb, also means to spread something like gossips, happiness, rumors, etc.

For example:

-The students sow beans in the garden.
-Her friends hated her for sowing rumors which were all untrue.

Interestingly, we can also use the word “sow”  as a noun means an adult female of several animals such as a pig or a bear.

"Sew" Vs. "Sow" Vs. "So"

Three words. One Sound. Yes, you read it right! First, we say “Sew”, then “Sow” and lastly we say “So”. These words are some words in English that have the same pronunciation. We classify the word “So” as an adverb in English which means “to a great extent.” If someone asks you, Do you think English is easy? Don’t just answer, ” Yes, it’s easy” but rather say, “Yes, it’s SO easy!”.

Learn more about some confusing words in English and enrich your vocabulary box by discovering unfamiliar words in English in our daily blog posts.