Minimal Pairs List: Vowels Sounds

Today we are going to learn some more about what minimal pairs are and how to discriminate one sound in English from another.

Pair of words, as pin and bin, or bet and bed, differing only by one sound in the same position in each word, especially when such a pair is taken as evidence for the existence of a phonemic contrast between the two sounds.

These are some examples of minimal pairs,if you need to check the phonetic transcription or how a word is pronounced. 

Visit the Cambridge Online Dictionary for more information

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Vowels: Minimal Pairs  /iː/ and /ɪ/

beach	bitch
heat	hit
peach	pitch
eat	it
seat	sit
bead	bid
beet	bit
heed	hid
deed	did
feet	fit
reach	rich
green	grin
peel	pill
seater	sitter

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Vowels: Minimal Pairs /æ/ and /e/

For more information about these two sounds in English, please check these two posts:

bag	beg
bat	bet
fast	fest
man	men
mantle	mental

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Vowels: Minimal Pairs /e/ and /eɪ/

Fell	Fell
Get	Gate
Let	Late
Fell	Fail
Sell	Sale
Tech	Take
Well	Whale
West	Waist

For more information about these two sounds in English, please check these two posts:

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Vowels: Minimal Pairs /æ/ and /ʌ/

Bat	But
Cap	Cup
Cat	Cut
Match	Much
Ran	Run
Sang	Sung
Bag	Bug
Crash	Crush
Hang	Hung
Mad	Mud

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Vowels: Minimal Pairs /e/ and /ɪ/

bed	bid
Left	Lift
Mess	Miss
beg	big
bell	bill
Belt	Built
Bet	Bit
Bless	Bliss
Check	Chick
Dead	Did
Fell	Fill
Desk	Disk
Gem	Gym
Head	Hid

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Vowels: Minimal Pairs  /u:/ and /ɔ:/

boot	bought
cool	call
drew	draw
flew	flaw
fool	fall

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Vowels and Diphthongs: /ɪ/ and /aɪ/

be	buy
cream	crime
delete	delight
feel	file
feet	fight
free	fry
freeze	fries
he	high
meal	mile
mean	mine

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