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American English minimal pairs

Minimal pairs: see and she

/s/vs/ʃ/

Hard for speakers of Spanish, Greek, Korean and some dialects of Mandarin, where the two sounds are not separate.

The difference. For /ʃ/ round your lips and pull the tongue a little back; /s/ is thinner, with the lips spread.

Practice all pairs

10 word pairs

Say both words in each pair. If Tono colors one of them amber or red, that is the sound to work on.

Contrast sentences

Both sounds in one sentence: the real test of whether you can switch between them.

  1. Can you see her? She is over there. Practice
  2. Take a sip on the ship. Practice
  3. They sell shells by the sea. Practice
  4. Please save some time to shave. Practice

How to practice minimal pairs

  1. Listen to both words in Tono first, one after the other, until you can hear the difference.
  2. Say the pair slowly and exaggerate the difference. Check that both words come back green.
  3. Say the contrast sentences at normal speed. That is where the mix-up usually comes back.

More minimal pairs

Spanish minimal pairsFrench minimal pairsGerman minimal pairs