French (France) minimal pairs

Minimal pairs: rire and lire

/ʁ/vs/l/

Hard for speakers of Japanese, Korean and Cantonese, whose languages do not separate r and l.

The difference. For the French r the back of the tongue rises towards the soft palate and the air rubs there, while the tongue tip stays down behind the lower teeth; for l the tongue tip touches the ridge behind the upper teeth.

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.

riz lit Practice
rire lire Practice
roue loup Practice
rond long Practice
rampe lampe Practice
rêve lève Practice
roi loi Practice
raie lait Practice
rang lent Practice
rue lu Practice

Contrast sentences

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

Le roi fait la loi. Practice
J’aime lire et rire. Practice
Il y a du riz sur le lit. Practice
Allume la lampe près de la rampe. Practice

How to practice minimal pairs

Listen to both words in Tono first, one after the other, until you can hear the difference.
Say the pair slowly and exaggerate the difference. Check that both words come back green.
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 the French R /ʁ/

More minimal pairs

English minimal pairs Spanish minimal pairs German minimal pairs