© Paul Smit 2006-2021
Minimal pairs are words that are identical in pronunciation except for one sound. Often listeners will easily be able to understand what you want to say because there is only one way to interpret your mispronunciation of a word. For example, if you say ‘labbit’ there will probably be only momentary confusion before the listener guesses you mean ‘rabbit’, because ‘labbit’ is not a word in English. However, if you say “it’s was a good pleasant” the listener may not be able to guess that you mean ‘present’, and there will be a breakdown in communication. However, many learners are not just concerned about being able to communicate; they are also keen to “sound correct”. Minimal pairs are a useful way to practice on often confused sound pairs in order to improve both your listening and speaking. This is usually a three-stage process:
- Learning to distinguish the sounds.
- Learning how to use your mouth, lips, tongue and voice box to produce the two sounds.
- Learning to produce the sounds correctly and accurately.
The following activities on this page are designed to make learning some often confused sound pairs a fun activity that you can do in groups.
Game 1: /ɪ/ versus /i:/ telephone pairs
Game 2: /ʌ/ versus /æ/ telephone pairs
© Paul Smit 2006-2021
Under construction – more activities to come!
© Paul Smit 2006-2021