I've been studying Japanese through Duolingo and I wouldn't say I've progressed very far. I've learned some of the basics of Hiragana and it's beginning to transition into Kanji. While learning Hiragana I learned that House
is pronounced Ie
or いえ
. When I began to transition into Kanji, I learned that no
is pronounced Īe
or いいえ
with an elongated I
syllable. When I translate House
using Google Translate, a new character is presented: 家
. I would assume this is correct, as the pronunciation sounds the same to me.
Are there a multitude of instances where this elongation of syllables occurs forming new words?
What is a good rule of thumb for remembering such differences?
Is it difficult to differentiate in rushed conversations?