Because so many English words sound similar, misunderstandings among English-speaking people are not uncommon. Not all misunderstandings result in highways being closed or passengers flying to the wrong continent. Most misunderstandings are much less serious. Every day people speaking English ask one another questions like these: “Did you say seventy or seventeen?” “Did you say that you can come or that you can’t?” Similar-sounding words can be especially confusing for people who speak English as a second language.