Tono
Start free

American English minimal pairs

Minimal pairs: they and day

/ð/vs/d/

Hard for speakers of Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, Russian and many others: the voiced TH turns into a d.

The difference. Both are voiced. For /ð/ the tongue touches the teeth lightly and the air keeps going; for /d/ it stops the air behind the teeth.

Practice all pairs

8 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. They came on the same day. Practice
  2. Then we sat in the den. Practice
  3. I would not dare to go there. Practice
  4. Though it was late, the dough was ready. 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.

Step-by-step help with these sounds: How to pronounce TH in English (/θ/ and /ð/)

More minimal pairs

Spanish minimal pairsFrench minimal pairsGerman minimal pairs