Spanish (Spain) minimal pairs

Minimal pairs: papa and papá

/ˈpapa/vs/paˈpa/

Hard for English speakers, who expect to hear where the stress goes rather than read it. In Spanish the written accent tells you, and moving the stress changes the word or the tense: hablo is “I speak”, habló is “she spoke”.

The difference. Make the stressed syllable a little longer and louder, and keep every other vowel full and clear, never reduced to “uh”. A written accent means: stress this syllable.

Practice all pairs

11 word pairs

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

papa papá Practice
hablo habló Practice
paso pasó Practice
canto cantó Practice
tomo tomó Practice
llamo llamó Practice
esta está Practice
término terminó Practice
sábana sabana Practice
práctico practicó Practice
secretaria secretaría Practice

Contrast sentences

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

Hoy hablo yo; ayer habló ella. Practice
Esta tarde está libre. Practice
Yo lo tomo solo; él lo tomó con leche. Practice
Canto todos los días; ayer cantó mi hermana. 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.

More minimal pairs

English minimal pairs French minimal pairs German minimal pairs