Minimal Pairs

A minimal pair is a pair of words which differ only in one sound. They are a great way to help your students become more aware of their difficulties with pronunciation. For example, Spanish students often struggle with the pairs "sheet" and "seat", or "cat" and "cut". They can really improve their pronunciation by practising these pairs.

For ways to use these with your students, see my minimal pairs activities page.

   

æ	ʌ
cat	cut
ankle	uncle
ran	run
drank	drunk
match	much

ɜ:	ɔ:
work	walk
bird	bored
fur	for
shirt	short
sir	saw

ʃ	s
ship	sip
she	sea
sure	sore
shoot	suit
shy	sigh

t	θ
tin	thin
true	through
tree	three
taught	thought
boat	both

r	l
fry	fly
right	light
grammar	glamour
wrong	long
wrist	list

v	b
vote	boat
very	berry
van	ban
vest	best
vet	bet

ɪ	i:
ship	sheep
it	eat
hit	heat
bin	bean
live	leave

æ	eɪ
hat	hate
mad	made
lack	lake
back	bake
cap	cape

s	z
sip	zip
sue	zoo
place	plays
rice	rise
ice	eyes

s	θ
sin	thin
sum	thumb
sank	thank
sink	think
saw	thaw

ŋk	ŋ
think	thing
sank	sang
bank	bang
rink	ring
sunk	sung

p	b
pin	bin
pest	best
pig	big
pit	bit
poured	bored

æ	e
bat	bet
dad	dead
pack	peck
sad	said
tan	ten

ɑ:	ɔ:
far	four
tart	taught
part	port
farm	form
barn	born

ʃ	tʃ
shoes	choose
sheep	cheap
wash	watch
mash	match
cash	catch

d	ð
doze	those
day	they
dare	there
den	then
dough	though

w	v
wine	vine
west	vest
while	vile
wet	vet
wary	vary

p	f
poor	four
pair	fair
pine	fine
pill	fill
please	fleas

 

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