Do you pronounce "pear" and "pair" the same way?

Yes.

I pronounce them both the same way.

Yeah. Sort of reminds me of the episode where Stewey tried to goad Brian into noticing he said “whippped” by using the“h” sound when he pronounced it.

A subtle difference.

Regional dialects often cause people to pronounce words differently. I pronounce the names ‘Dawn’ and ‘Don’ the same way and often get corrected by my friend Dawn who lives in Chicago. When I lived in Minnesota, they laughed at my southern accent. The only two words that I never could master there were ‘Volvo’ and ‘spoon’. My British bloke is forgiving of pronunciation except for the word ‘Bath’. On this one, he tends to correct me.

Regional dialects are one thing. When in doubt, go to a professional for the correct answer.

Yes, I pronounce them the same.

Here’s a relevant quizz:
What American accent do you have?

I’m a Chicagoan. My result was “Inland North” and “Are you from Chicago?”

@jaytkay: I’m The Northeast.

I pronounce them the same. I have been in southern California since I was 4.

Yes. pear/pare/pair = same
caught/cot = same
merry/marry/Mary = same
pin =/= pen

Guess where I’m from ;) I have the American non-accent.

@jaytkay Great link!

Same answers I gave – I have a “Midland” accent AKA no accent.

I say them the same way.

Exactly the same. I have the same accent as @DominicX :) I can’t even say merry, marry, and Mary differently. I can make myself say caught/cot and pin/pen differently, but it’s not my accent. But the m-words… I can’t even make my mouth make those sounds. I have to pronounce them the same.

I am “Inland North” and that is where I live.
I on that test the only words that I pronounce the same as their test partners was Mary/merry/marry.

I think I stretch out the a sound in PAIR a little longer.

What fun. It judged me, correctly, to be from the NE US and probably NYC. I was born in the Bronx and surrounded by family who spoke “Bronx.” This was counterbalanced by my mother’s more dulcet and neutral speech patterns from Oregon and from her training at acting school.

After I turned 7, I moved to a commuting suburb of Manhattan.

Took @jaytkay‘s quiz…

“Your Result: Boston

You definitely have a Boston accent, even if you think you don’t. Of course, that doesn’t mean you are from the Boston area, you may also be from New Hampshire or Maine.”

Ouch. I thought I had shed it.
Anyway, “pear” and “pair” = same pronunciation.

I pare them down to the dictionary pronunciation even though ear and air are, as you note, clearly not alike in sound

@jaytkay That quiz missed me by a mile. It said: “Your accent is as Philadelphian as a cheesesteak! If you’re not from Philadelphia, then you’re from someplace near there like south Jersey, Baltimore, or Wilmington. if you’ve ever journeyed to some far off place where people don’t know that Philly has an accent, someone may have thought you talked a little weird even though they didn’t have a clue what accent it was they heard.”

I was born and reared in Virginia, moved to California, Minnesota, back to California, Virginia then Massachusetts. I’ve spent no more than 1 week of my 68 years in Philly. Nothing against the place, but that’s just not where I learned my pronunciations.

I pronounce pear and pair the same.

I took the test linked by @jaytkay and accordingly I have a Western accent. It said that my accent is the lowest common denominator of American speech, which seemed insulting until it continued, Unless you’re a SoCal surfer, no one thinks you have an accent.

The answer I would have given for #8 wasn’t provided:

Moving on, what do you think about “Mary,” “merry,” and “marry”?

All 3 sound different
Mary and merry sound the same but marry is different from them
All 3 sound the same

My answer would be that I pronounce the “a’s” in Mary and marry like the “a” in apple, and I pronounce the “e” in merry the same as I pronounce the first “e” in where.

Pair & Pare & Pear are all said precisely the same by me.

Hilarious! According to the test @jaytkay put up there I’m a “North Central” aka “Fargo” accent. The funny thing is I make fun of that accent all. the. time. :D I guess the joke’s on me!

Yes, I do.

The sounds are the same, but “pear” is slightly more clipped than “pair”. I kind of drag out “pair” a bit more. Off to take the accent test.

I got the Midland accent, so no accent. This jives with what I’ve always believed. :)

I most certainly do. If it quakes like a pair it probably is a pear.

@Pied_Pfeffer That’s interesting on the Bath front, as there’s two distinct ways of pronouncing that over here, and I’d be interested to know which your fella insists on? (My way of checking if he’s a true northerner or not!)

Edit. Quacks.

Oh yeah.

Definitely exactly the same.

“I have a pair of pears”, nope no difference.

Oh yeah @erichw1504?

Well I have a pair of pared pears!
They all sound the same to me ;P

Exactly the same, just as the dictionary says they should be. I’m English, if that makes any difference.

I pronounce them the same way.

Oui

I pronounce ‘pear’ and ‘pair’ the same.
But that test was way off tagging me as Midland.
I grew up in CA and moved to NYC in my 30’s but have worked with a lot of French, Indian (India), Russian and Chinese immigrants.
I’m bi-coastal with occasional peculiar syntax.

Zachary da same.