Practice

Hear the difference.

Word pairs that sound almost identical — except for one sound. Listen to each word, then read the respelling out loud to train your ear on the contrasts that trip learners up most.

01

Short/Long Vowels

I vs EE
ship
SHIP
sheep
SHEEP
I vs EE
bit
BIT
beat
BEET
I vs EE
fill
FIL
feel
FEEL
I vs EE
live
LIV
leave
LEEV
I vs EE
sit
SIT
seat
SEET
02

L vs R

L vs R
light
LYT
right
RYT
L vs R
lead
LEED
read
REED
L vs R
long
LAWNG
wrong
RAWNG
L vs R
glass
GLASS
grass
GRASS
L vs R
collect
kuh-LEKT
correct
kuh-REKT
03

TH Sounds

TH vs S
think
THINK
sink
SINK
TH vs F
three
THREE
free
FREE
TH vs S
thank
THANK
sank
SANK
TH vs S
mouth
MOWTH
mouse
MOWSS
TH vs S
bath
BATH
bass
BASS
04

V vs W

V vs W
vest
VEST
west
WEST
V vs W
vine
VYN
wine
WYN
V vs W
vet
VET
wet
WET
V vs W
verse
VURSS
worse
WURSS
V vs W
vary
VAIR-ee
wary
WAIR-ee
05

Final Consonant Voicing

P vs B
cap
KAP
cab
KAB
T vs D
seat
SEET
seed
SEED
S vs Z
bus
BUSS
buzz
BUZZ
K vs G
back
BAK
bag
BAG
S vs Z
price
PRYSS
prize
PRYZ