Lesson Two - Minimal Pairs

This lesson will discuss a very important idea that I will use again and again. This is the idea of a 'minimal pair'.

Minimal means small; a pair means two of something.

A minimal pair is two things that are very similar, with only one difference.

In pronunciation, it means two words that have only one sound difference. Here are some examples:

     - fat        bat

     - eaten   Eden

     - not       nog

In the first example, the first sound is different. In the second example, the middle sound is different; in the last, the last sound is different. 

The concept of a minimal pair is very important. This is because English students often say two different sounds the same. That can be a big problem.

For example, some English students often say /p/ and /b/ like /p/. So the sentence "I bet that because the boy is bad, his mother's heart is broken" sounds to an English speaker like "I pet that pecause the poy is pad, his mother's heart is proken". This can be very confusing to the listener.

Another example would be a student who confuses /ɹ/ (the 'r' sound) and /l/, who might say the sentence "Look to the right at the really rude guy" as "Rook to the light at the leally lude guy."

(Note: It is important to understand that ALL language groups have minimal problems; this is the basic problem that people need to overcome when they learn English. .)

The first step to correcting your pronunciation is to learn what problems you have. Then, and only then, can you move on to correct those problems.

The biggest problems you have in pronunciation are likely to be minimal pair problems. This website will help you find which minimal pairs you have issues with, and will hopefully help you overcome those problems. 

Below is a list of common minimal pairs. Read them each slowly, and then close your eyes and say them again. Do they sound different or the same? The should sound different; if they don't, maybe you just found the first thing to work on!

     - Light     Right

     - Beer     Tear

     - Pray      Pry

     - Affect    Effect

     - Ship      Sheep

     

This is a very small list; there are literally thousands of such minimal pairs. Keep you eyes out for more of them! Learning to hear the difference and say the difference is a important step to correcting your pronunciation.