Pronunciation tool
Pronunciation — minimal pairs & sound fixes
Pronunciation is one of the four IELTS Speaking criteria. Five small sound fixes can lift your score noticeably — examiners notice clarity, not accent.
IELTSTOEFL
High-impact minimal pairs
| Sound A | Sound B | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| /iː/ (sheep) | /ɪ/ (ship) | sheep–ship, leave–live, beat–bit |
| /v/ | /w/ | vest–west, vine–wine, veil–whale |
| /θ/ (think) | /s/ | think–sink, thick–sick, theme–seem |
| /r/ | /l/ | right–light, road–load, fry–fly |
| /æ/ (cat) | /e/ (bed) | bad–bed, sat–set, man–men |
| /p/ | /b/ | pat–bat, peach–beach, pig–big |
Word stress patterns to drill
- Two-syllable nouns usually stress syllable 1: REcord, PREsent.
- Two-syllable verbs usually stress syllable 2: reCORD, preSENT.
- Words ending -tion / -sion: stress is on the syllable BEFORE: educAtion, deCIsion.
- Words ending -ity: stress is on the syllable BEFORE: opporTUnity, posSIbility.
Sentence stress — what natives stress
- Content words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs) — STRESSED.
- Function words (articles, prepositions, auxiliaries) — UNSTRESSED.
- Stressing function words sounds robotic. Practice de-stressing them.
Daily 5-minute drill
- Pick one minimal pair. Say each word 10 times slowly, exaggerating the difference.
- Read 3 sentences each containing one word from the pair.
- Record yourself. Listen for the difference. Adjust.
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