Listening and Pronunciation Practice--Minimal Pairs

Sheep                                    Ship         

Minimal pairs practice refers to practice with pairs of words that sound alike, except for a small (minimal) difference in the vowel (or consonant) sound. Here's an example of a minimal pair: not and nut. The only difference between the two words is the way you pronounce the vowel sound between the consonants n and t. The word not has a short o sound in the middle, but the word nut has a short u sound.

Practice listening to and repeating minimal pairs at the links below. The second website, manythings.org, also has some videos that pronounce these pairs so you can listen and repeat.

(Click below to watch one of these listen and repeat videos)

After you click on one of the links below (highlighted in yellow), you may see a notice like this:

Click on the notice, then click "Allow" on the box that appears:

My suggestion: Click on one of the links below and follow the directions to listen to and practice saying minimal pairs.

LINK: Ship or Sheep?     

Click on a pair of words from the list, then move your mouse pointer over a picture to hear the word spoken.

LINK: Minimal Pairs Practice and Quizzes at Manythings.org

Click on a pair from the list, or on a practice video which pronounces the words for you so that you can listen and repeat. When you click on a pair, you are taken to a new screen with directions. Read the directions, then scroll to the bottom of the screen and click "Start." Once you are on the page for a pair, you can use the arrow keys at the bottom to go forward ➔  to the next pair or backward ⟵  to the previous pair.