minimal pairs

Practicing minimal pairs

By Claudita Cárdenas

True or false?• English speakers use twelve pure vowels

• Vowels are differentiated from the consonants by their position of the tongue and the lips

• Lip positions for vowel production can be rounded and neutral

• While vowels are produced with the help of many organs, consonants depend only on the position of the tongue and the lips

• The position of the tongue and the lips allow for a great amount of variation enabling us to voice many more than the familiar five vowels.

• English has eight diphthongs

• Vowels can be produced by raising the tongue high, keeping it in the middle or low in the mouth

• Vowels can be produced alone and may be short or long

• Vowels are classified into close, mid and open vowels

VOWELS

CLOSE VOWELS• Lips spread, tongue tense. Sides of the tongue

touch upper molars (key. cheese, scene, police, people)

• Lips spread loosely, tongue more relaxed. Sides of tongue may touch upper molars (rhythm, sieve, hit, sausage)

• Lips rounded, tongue relaxed, gorilla noise (book, good, woman, push, pull)

• Lips rounded, tongue tense, use a rising and falling intonation (food, rude, true, who, fruit)

To make the sound /i:/, smile and open your mouth a little. /i:/ is a long sound. It comes in the words feet and seat.

To make the sound /ɪ/, open your mouth a little more. /ɪ/ is a short sound. It comes in the words fit and sit.

feet fit

seat sit

steal still

feel fill

jeans gins

beans bins

team Tim

cheap chip

peach pitch

leave live

THE SOUNDS /i:/ AND /ɪ/

A necklace of brown glass ______

a.Beads

b.Bids

She broke her _______ falling down the stairs

a. Heap

b. Hip

Those shoes don’t _______ her _______.

a.feet, fit

b.Fit, feet

He made a ____ of $150 for the painting

a.Bead

b.Bid

Everytime he wants to play, he begins to ______; he’s really sick

a.Whiz

b.Wheez

He’s so brilliant. He’s a _____ at mathematics

a.Whiz

b.Wheez

This is the football _______

a.Peach

b.Pitch

She _______ for her gun

a.Reached

b.Riched

Diane’s ___________ her lollipop

a.Leaking

b.Licking

There are 52 _______ in a year

a.Weeks

b.Wicks

The tap ______ all day, we have to get it fixed

a.Licks

b.Leaks

My parents in law are ______ enough to buy an airplane

a. Reach

b. Rich

Her face is as soft as a _______

a.Peach

b.Pitch

A candle _______ is string, cord, or wooden object that holds the flame of a candle.

a.Week

b.Wick

That _______ of rubish stinks

a.Hip

b.Heap

MID VOWELS

• Lips loosely spread, tongue tenser than for i: (egg, left, said, head)

• Lips relaxed and neutrally spread, as though you were completely exhausted (about- paper- banana, nation)

• Lips relaxed and neutrally spread (shirt, her, word, further)

• Lips loosely rounded (fork, call, snore, taught)

OPEN VOWELS

• Lips neutrally open (hat, attack, antique)

• Lips neutrally open (run, uncle, front, nourish, does)

• Tongue in the fully open position, Lips neutrally open (far, part, class, half)

• Tongue in the fully open position, lips lightly rounded (dog, often, cough, want)

Which word sounds different?

• Debt

• Fret

• Treat

• sweat

Which word sounds different?

• Mother

• Bother

• Brother

• Another

Which word sounds different?

•Hot •Knot•Taught•What

Which word does not rhyme with the others

• Through

• Sew

• Due

• Do

VOWELS

- the same letters can have different vowel sound:

Soup couple bought

/u:/ /ʌ/ /ɔ:/

-different letters can have the same vowel sound:

Soup boots suit

/u:/ /u:/ /u:/

Cross out the word which does not contain the vowel sound on the left.

/e/ bread woman eggs many

/ʌ/ enough brother sugar much

/ɒ/ onion coffee lot what

/ɜ:/ shirt pork world university

/i:/ cheese tea wine magazines

/ɑ:/ car carrots half aren´t

/ɪ/ buildings little birds milk

/u:/ shampoo look fruit two

4. Listen and circle the symbol that matches the sound of the underlined letters.

• Bus /ʊ/ /ʌ/• Tall /ɑ:/ /ɔ:/• Word /ɜ:/ /ɔ:/• Good /ʊ/ /ɔ:/• Park /æ/ /ɑ:/• Shop /ʌ/ /ɒ/• Apples /æ/ /ə/• Blue /ʊ/ /u:/• Cigarette /ʌ/ /ə/

To make the sound /u:/,

make your lips very

round and hard.

make the sound long.

/u:/ /ʊ/. Practise making

the sounds

To make the sound /ʊ/,

open your lips a little and make them a little

round. Keep the sound short.

 THE SOUNDS /ʊ/ AND /u:/

Full Fool

Pull Pool

Look Luke

Soot Suit

Now you…

• Teacher

• Kitchen

• Work

• Cinema

• Who

• Book

• Five

• Away

• Car

• Study

• Ball

• Hot

• Pen

• Cat

• Hit

• See

• Boy

• Bed

• Onion

• Sugar

• Say

• Birds

• Look

• Wine

• Carrots

• Now

• Word

• Tall

• Park

• Good

• Key

• Apple

Complete the statements with the appropriate word

sheep

hit

eel

sieve

leave

ship

heat

ill

receive

live

Match the similar words

• Sheep

• Receive

• Leave

• Heat

• Eel

• ill

• Live

• Hit

• Sieve

• Ship

ANSWER

• Sheep

• Heat

• Eel

• Receive

• Leave

• Ship

• Hit

• ill

• Sieve

• live

The tornado was so devastating that whole cities were wiped off the ________

a.Mop

b.Map

She must be a whiz! Are you telling me that she can ____ at the age of 2?

a.Add

b.Odd

What she ______ in beauty, she makes up for brains

a.Lacks

b.Locks

A _______ is a bundle of coarse yarn, a sponge, or other absorbent material, fastened at the end of a stick or handle for washing floors

a.Mop

b.Map

The documents of the new exports policies are quintessential for the company. That’s why they are under ____ and key

a.Lack

b.Lock

When we are in need for a _____ they don’t show up

a.Cab

b.Cob

I can’t believe that Luren let the ______ out of the bag. Everybody was in shock.

a.Cot

b.Cat

Do you know how to grill corn on the ____?

a.Cab

b.Cob

That _____ is a nightmare! Firs, I couldn’t sleep and second, my

whole body was aching the next day

a.Cat

b.Cot

Choose the ______ word out?

a. add

b. odd