Minimal pairs are very important in learning English pronunciation. Get the list of the sounds and words here and start practicing. To learn more about the pronunciation of individual IPA sounds in American English, check https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stavira.ipaphonetics out for free

1. Minimal pairs in English
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Minimal pairs are are the pairs of words, sometime phrases, in which the difference between
them is only one phonological element. This element most of the time is a phoneme (the ones
you see in IPA chart), toneme or chroneme. The different in this one element in turn, makes the
difference between the meanings of the two words/phrases.
A classic example of minimal pairs is ship and sheep. As you can see in the IPA representation of
these two words, which are /ʃɪp/ and /ʃiːp/ respectively, the difference between these two
words is in the former, the vowel is ɪ and in the case of the latter, iː is the vowel. As mentioned
above, this difference brings the difference in the meaning of the two words.
Another example would be back vs pack. In this case, the IPA representations of these two
words are /bæk/ and /pæk/. It can clearly be seen that the difference lies in the first sound of
each word, which are b and p sound.
You can find below the common minimal pairs, including vowels and consonants:
Vowel Sounds
Minimal Pairs /ɪ/ and /i:/ ship sheep
Minimal Pairs /e/ and /ɪ/ bed bit
Minimal Pairs /e/ and /eɪ/ wet wait
Minimal Pairs /æ/ and /ʌ/ bat but
Minimal Pairs /əʊ/ and /ɔ:/ so saw
Minimal Pairs /ɒ/ and /əʊ/ not note
Minimal Pairs /æ/ and /e/ bad bed
Minimal Pairs /ɑ:/ and /ɜ:/ fast first
Consonant Sounds
Minimal Pairs /b/ and /v/ berry very
Minimal Pairs /b/ and /p/ bark park

2. Minimal Pairs /n/ and /ŋ/ sin sing
Minimal Pairs /l/ and /r/ rice lice
Minimal Pairs /ʧ/ and /t/ catch cat
Minimal Pairs /s/ and /ʃ/ sip ship
Minimal Pairs /f/ and /v/ fan van
Minimal Pairs /f/ and /h/ fat hat
Minimal Pairs /f/ and /θ/ free three
Minimal Pairs /s/ and /θ/ sink think
Minimal Pairs /ð/ and /z/ with whizz
Minimal Pairs /ʤ/ and /z/ page pays
Minimal Pairs /d/ and /ʤ/ bad badge
Final Consonant Sounds
Minimal Pairs final /k/ and /g/ back bag
Minimal Pairs final /m/ and /n/ am an
Minimal Pairs final /t/ and /d/ hat had
Initial Consonant Sounds
Minimal Pairs initial /f/ and /p/ fast past
Minimal Pairs initial /k/ and /g/ came game
Minimal Pairs initial /t/ and /d/ two do
You can find a list of minimal pairs words at http://www.home-speech-home.com/minimal-
pairs.html

3. For learning the pronunciation of individual IPA character, please go to https://stavira.com/ and
get the app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stavira.ipaphonetics for
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