Homework

Listen and repeat the following words. 

Difference Between /æ/ and /e/

Let’s talk about minimal pairs /æ/ and /e/ - what’s the difference-?

Try saying ‘bed’ – when you make the /e/ sound, your tongue is in the front part of your mouth and raised a little towards your palate. 

Now say ‘bad’ – when you make the /æ/ sound, your tongue is low, and your mouth opens wide.

Focus on the pronunciation, listen to the sounds and repeat.

 

Words Examples With Sentences

• Bet / Bat

• Bet - a wager / Bat - a specially shaped wooden piece to hit a ball

• I bet he will bat better this time around.

 

• Beg / Bag

• Beg - to make a strong request / Bag – a container with handles made of leather, plastic, paper, or cloth

•  Please do not beg, I will lend you that bag.

 

• Bend / Band

• Bend – to make something change shape or someone submit / Band – a group of musicians
•  We cannot bend the rules and take you in the band.

 

• Blend / Bland 

• Blend – mixture / Bland – flavorless
• This spice blend is very bland.

 

• Celery / Salary 

•  Celery - a green plant / Salary - wage

•   You can try selling celery to earn a salary.

 

• End / And

• End - to finish or stop / And – conjunction used to connect words or parts of a sentence
• They argued and that was the end of their relationship.

 

• Fest / Fast

•  Fest - a festival / Fast - quickly

•   The fest fast turned into a nightmare.

• Fleshy / Flashy

• Fleshy – overweight / Flashy - expensive or brightly coloured
• He is fleshy and wears flashy clothes.

 

• Kettle / Cattle

• Kettle – a container to boil water / Cattle - bovine animals (cows, bulls, etc) kept for milk and meat
•  You use a kettle to boil water, not cattle.

 

• Dead / Dad

•   Dead – not living / Dad - father
•   Their dad has been dead for 10 years.

 

• Gem / Jam

•   Gem – precious or semi-precious stone / Jam - fruit spread
•   I bought some jam and chocolate gems.

 

• Hem / Ham

• Hem – edge of a cloth folded over and sewn / Ham – smoked and salted upper part of pig leg
• She tried to steal the ham by stuffing it in the hem.

 

• Lend / Land 

• Lend – to give something with the condition it will be returned after sometime / Land – part of Earth’s surface not underwater.
•  Can you lend me the money to buy that land?

 

• Letter / Latter

•  Letter – a written message delivered by mail/ Latter – second of two things or people

•  The latter half of the letter was quite offensive.

 

• Men / Man

• Men – plural of man / Man – a male human being
•  Can one man fight 10 men?

 

• Mesh / Mash

• Mesh – interwoven or intertwined / Mash – crushing something to a pulp
• Use this mesh to strain the mash.

 

• Merry / Marry

•   Merry - happy / Marry - marriage
•   I am going to marry a merry girl.

 

• Melody / Malady 

• Melody- a musical tune / Malady – disorder or sickness

• This soothing melody will help you deal with the malady.

 

• Pen / Pan

• Pen – instrument for writing or drawing / Pan – a container used for cooking

• I asked you for a pen and you got me a pan.

 

• Pet / Pat

•   Pet – domestic animal / Pat – a popular name or to stroke with a hand
•   Pat got a new pet bird.

 

• Peck / Pack

•  Peck – a quick kiss / Pack – to fill a space
•  He gave her a peck on the cheek and started to pack his bags.

 

• Pedal / Paddle

• Pedal – a foot lever to control certain vehicles / Paddle – an oar to row a boat
• He hit the pedal with a paddle and broke it.

 

• Said / Sad

•  Said – a past form of say / Sad - unhappy
•   John said he was sad.

 

• Send / Sand

• Send – dispatch / Sand – a granular material
• Could you please send in a truckload of sand immediately?

 

• Shell / Shall

• Shell – a hard outer covering of nuts, eggs, some fruit or animals / Shall – modal verb for future tense or to express intention

• What shall I do with all these shells?

 

• Ten / Tan

•  Ten – a number after 9 / Tan – having dark skin after being in sun for long

• A spray tan can last up to ten days.

  

• Temper / Tamper

• Temper – prone to anger / Tamper – to change something in order to cause damage
•  He lost his temper when he caught his son tempering with the alarm.

 

• Trek / Track

•  Trek – to walk a long distance / Track – rough path or road
•  We went for a trek and found a great spot, off the beaten track.

Information from: https://www.krisamerikos.com/blog/minimal-pairs-1 

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Minimal Pairs - /æ/ and /e/

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Minimal Pairs - /æ/ and /e/

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