English Pronunciation · Vowels

English Vowel Minimal Pairs Exercise

Ten vowel contrasts that change meaning – ship or sheep, bed or bad, work or walk. Practise the pairs, choose the right word in context and find the odd one out.

Vokal-Minimalpaare im britischen Englisch: zehn Kontraste mit Übungen.

ship /ɪ/≠sheep /iː/
  • 10 vowel contrasts
  • 49 minimal pairs
  • 22 “Which word?” sentences
  • 12 odd-one-out sets

1 What Are Minimal Pairs?

A minimal pair is two words that differ in just one sound: ship – sheep, bed – bad. If you mix the vowels up, you say a different word – and listeners may misunderstand you.

  1. Hear the difference – ask someone to say a pair, or use a dictionary with audio.
  2. Feel it – jaw, lips and tongue; use a mirror.
  3. Say the pair slowly: ship… sheep… ship… sheep.
  4. Use the words in sentences – the exercises below.
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2 Ten Vowel Contrasts

Read across each pair, then down the list. All examples are British English (RP).

/ɪ/vs/iː/

Short and relaxed vs long, with a slight smile.

ship – sheep
sit – seat
live – leave
fill – feel
hill – heel
More practice →
/e/vs/æ/

Half-open vs wide open – drop your jaw for /æ/.

bed – bad
men – man
pen – pan
said – sad
head – had
More practice →
/æ/vs/ʌ/

/æ/ open and front; /ʌ/ relaxed and central, mouth less open.

cat – cut
cap – cup
bag – bug
hat – hut
ran – run
/ʌ/vs/ɑː/

Short /ʌ/ vs long, open /ɑː/ (no r in British English).

hut – heart
cut – cart
much – march
come – calm
bun – barn
/ɒ/vs/ɔː/

Short, open, rounded /ɒ/ vs long, rounder /ɔː/.

cot – caught
pot – port
shot – short
spot – sport
fox – forks
/ɒ/vs/əʊ/

Short /ɒ/ vs the glide /əʊ/ – not a German “o”.

not – note
cost – coast
got – goat
rod – road
want – won’t
More practice →
/ʊ/vs/uː/

Short and relaxed vs long with rounded lips.

full – fool
pull – pool
look – Luke
soot – suit
More practice →
/ɜː/vs/ɔː/

Relaxed, unrounded /ɜː/ vs rounded /ɔː/.

work – walk
bird – board
firm – form
word – ward
shirt – short
/ɜː/vs/ɑː/

Central /ɜː/ vs open, back /ɑː/.

heard – hard
firm – farm
burn – barn
fur – far
curt – cart
/e/vs/eɪ/

Pure short /e/ vs the glide /eɪ/.

wet – wait
pen – pain
sell – sail
test – taste
let – late
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3 Which Word?

Choose the word that fits – then say the whole sentence aloud with the right vowel.

Score: 0 / 0
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4 Odd One Out

Say the three words aloud. Which one has a different vowel sound? (Listen to the sound, not the spelling!)

Score: 0 / 0
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5 Typical Traps for German Speakers

bed – bad

German ä is too close to /e/. Open your mouth wider for /æ/: bad, man, had.

ship – sheep

Make /ɪ/ shorter and more relaxed – not like German i. Make /iː/ long.

not – note

/əʊ/ glides: start at schwa, move to /ʊ/. A pure German o sounds wrong.

work – walk

No lip rounding for /ɜː/ – it is not German ö. Round only for /ɔː/.

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6 Quiz: Minimal Pairs

Score: 0 / 0
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Go deeper Minimal PairsDiphthong Minimal PairsSounds and Minimal PairsVowel Sounds PracticeVowel ChartLive vs Leave
One sound – a different word.
Practise a few pairs every day: hear them, feel them, say them, use them.
Take the free pronunciation test →

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