Minimal Pairs - /ɪ/ and /i:/ - Detailed Explanation
As you may be aware, minimal pairs are two words that differ by a single sound and can be confusing for non-native learners of the English language.
Today we are going to focus on the vowel Minimal Pair - /ɪ/ and /i:/.
Difference Between i and i:
/i:/ is a longer sound like EE - try saying ‘seem’: did you notice the front tip of the tongue rising higher towards the tooth ridge?
/ɪ/ is a short sound - try saying ‘sim’, the front tip of the tongue lowers a little bit.
Let’s Practice:
Bin and Bean
- Bin: a container for rubbish / Bean: edible seed
- Beans are packed with nutrients.
Bit and Beat
- Bit: a small part of something / Beat: to hit repeatedly
- Practice keeping the beat, it is a bit off.
Chip and Cheap
- Chip: a small thin piece / Cheap: low priced
- Do not grin, the green bin was cheap as chips.
Chick and Cheek
- Chick: baby bird / Cheek: soft part of the face below the eyes, on either side of the nose
- That chick with fluffy cheeks is my favorite.
Dip and Deep
- Dip: to go down to lower level / Deep: far down from the top surface
- I took a dip in the deep sea.
Did and Deed
- Did: past tense of do / Deed: an action
- Did you file the property deed with the land office?
Fill and Feel
- Fill: to make full / Feel: to physically touch something or to experience an emotion
- The dentist filled the hole in my tooth yesterday, I feel much better now.
Fit and Feet
- Fit: healthy / Feet: plural of the foot (a part of the body)
- Feet ache when shoes do not fit.
Fist and Feast
- Fist: the hand closed tightly with fingers bent into the palm / Feast: special meal served at a party or celebration
- She celebrated her wedding with a large feast for family and friends.
Grid and Greed
- Grid: a pattern of straight lines that cross over each other vertically and horizontally / Greed: selfish and uncontrolled desire for more of something.
- Greed can be deadly.
Grin and Green
- Grin: wide smile / Green: a colour
- Do not grin, the green bin was cheap as chips.
Hid and Heed
- Hid: past tense of hide (to keep out of sight) / Heed: to pay attention
- He did not heed the teacher's warning and kept chattering.
Hip and Heap
- Hip: a joint that connects leg to upper body / Heap: an untidy pile of something
- I fell on a heap of rocks and injured my hip.
Hit and Heat
- Hit: to strike or be struck / Heat: high temperature
- We were hit hard by the heat wave.
Hill and Heel
- Hill: raise part of Earth’s surface smaller than a mountain / Heel: rounded back part of the foot.
- I bumped my heel while running down the hill.
It and Eat
- It: third person pronoun / Eat: to put food in the mouth and chew it.
- Is it healthy to eat out?
Itch and Each
- Itch: a sensation on the skin that makes you want to scratch / Each: every person or thing in a group.
- Each one of us had an itchy rash.
Knit and Neat
- Knit: to make a garment or cloth with yarn and needles / Neat: well-ordered or tidy
- She can knit neatly.
Lick and Leak
- Lick: move the tongue over a surface / Leak: to escape through a crack or hole in a pipe or container
- Call the plumber to fix the leak.
Lip and Leap
- Lip: either of the two outer parts of the mouth / Leap: to jump
- He leaped and fell and cut his lip.
List and Least
- List: a set of information written one below the other / Least: smallest in size or degree
- This list is the least I could do.
Live and Leave
- Live: to have life / Leave: to go away from someone or something
- Leave your worries behind and live in the moment.
Pip and Peep
- Pip: a small seed of a fruit / Peep: a quick or secretive look
- Some fruit pips are harmful to eat.
Pill and Peel
- Pill: a small solid mass of medicine that is swallowed whole / Peel: to remove the outer covering
- I will eat the peach after I peel it.
Pick and Peak
- Pick: to pluck or to choose / Peak: highest or important point
- Pick an alternate route to avoid peak hour traffic.
Pitch and Peach
- Pitch: quality of sound / Peach: a stone fruit
- I will eat the peach after I peel it.
Rich and Reach
- Rich: wealthy / Reach: to arrive at a place
- Work hard and you can get rich and reach the heights you deserve.
Rid and Read
- Rid: to be free of something or someone unwanted / Read: an act of getting meaning by looking at written words
- Read books to get rid of boredom.
Sit and Seat
- Sit: a position when one’s bottom rests on a surface and supports the body / Seat: a place to sit
- The bike seat was so uncomfortable I couldn’t sit for long.
Ship and Sheep
- Ship: a large boat / Sheep: farm animal with wool
- He tried to seek the sick sheep on the ship.
Sick and Seek
- Sick: unwell / Seek: search for or try to find
- He tried to seek the sick sheep on the ship.
Sip and Seep
- Sip: to drink with small mouthfuls / Seep: to pass slowly through small holes
- Water was seeping through the cracks in the wall.
Slip and Sleep
- Slip: to slide and fall / Sleep: state of resting your body with closed eyes
- I am going to slip into bed and go to sleep.
Sin and Seen
- Sin: an act against religious or moral laws / Seen: past particle of see
- Murder is seen as a sin but not a death penalty.
Still and Steel
- Still: not moving or making a sound / Steel: a hard tough metal
- Steel is still the most important engineering material.
Win and Wean
- Win : to succeed in a competition / Wean: to cause a child or young animal to stop taking mother’s milk and start eating solid food.
- We will need to wean off fossil fuels to win the fight against climate change.
Will and Wheel
- Will: to express future tense or someone’s ability to do something / Wheel: a circular simple machine that revolves on an axle
- The wheel will turn.
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