student asking question

Does the bird "turkey" have an identical spelling with the country "Turkey"? Don't people get confused?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

Yes, the country Turkey does have identical spelling to the bird turkey. Usually, it's pretty easy to identify which turkey is being discussed. In writing, the country is always capitalized (Turkey), and the bird will not unless it's at the beginning of the sentence. If you speak to someone and speak about eating, meals, Thanksgiving, or animals, they are talking about the animal. We also usually use articles "a" or "the" when discussing the bird. If they are speaking about traveling, places, or politics, it will be about the country. Ex: He was born in Istanbul, Turkey. Ex: I enjoy eating turkey during Thanksgiving. Ex: Turkey is near Iraq, Iran, Syria, Armenia, and Georgia. Ex: She learned how to brine a turkey.

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