Vowels

Train your ear with minimal pairs

Why vowels matter

English has more vowel sounds than most languages. A small change in tongue position or length changes the word entirely: ship vs sheep, bit vs beat. Mastering these pairs is the fastest path to clear speech.

The vowel pairs

/ɪ/ vs /iː/

Short i vs Long ee

/ʊ/ vs /uː/

Short u vs Long oo

/æ/ vs /ɛ/

Short a vs Short e

/ɑ/ vs /ɔ/

Short o vs Aw sound

Word pairs

shipvssheep/ɪ/ vs /iː/

bitvsbeat/ɪ/ vs /iː/

livevsleave/ɪ/ vs /iː/

sitvsseat/ɪ/ vs /iː/

fillvsfeel/ɪ/ vs /iː/

pullvspool/ʊ/ vs /uː/

fullvsfool/ʊ/ vs /uː/

batvsbet/æ/ vs /ɛ/

manvsmen/æ/ vs /ɛ/

badvsbed/æ/ vs /ɛ/

panvspen/æ/ vs /ɛ/

cotvscaught/ɑ/ vs /ɔ/

stockvsstalk/ɑ/ vs /ɔ/

donvsdawn/ɑ/ vs /ɔ/

hutvshot/ʌ/ vs /ɑ/

cupvscop/ʌ/ vs /ɑ/

Ear training quiz

1 of 10Score: 0

Which word do you hear?