/æ/ vs /e/ | Learn English Pronunciation Course #7 | Minimal Pairs Practice

Hello, students.

This is Fanny.

Welcome back to this English pronunciation video.

In this video, I'm gonna focus on two tricky vowel sounds, /æ/ and /e/.

I know they sound similar, but they are different sounds in English.

So we need to practice.

Let's take two example words.

The first word is ‘bad’.

Can you hear the /æ/ sound?

‘bad’.

The second word is ‘bed’.

Can you hear the /e/ sound?

‘bed’.

So ‘bad’ and ‘bed’.

I know they sound practically the same, but they are different.

And you need to practice.

And by the end of this video, I promise you will hear and pronounce them correctly,

so keep watching.

Get ready, guys.

I'm gonna help you make these sounds /æ/ and /e/ in English.

You will be able to hear the difference and to pronounce them correctly.

It's very important also for you to know the IPA spelling.

Watch how I move my mouth.

And always try to repeat after me in this video.

I know you can do this, so let's get to it.

Let's first learn how to make the sound /æ/.

Now as you can see my tongue is very low and my chin as well.

/æ/

Repeat after me.

/æ/

/æ/

/æ/

Let's practice with the word, ‘bad’.

Repeat after me.

‘bad’

‘bad’

‘bad’

Let's now make the different sound /e/.

Now for this sound, my tongue is in the middle part of my mouth

and I stretch out my lips a little bit.

/e/

Repeat after me.

/e/

/e/

/e/

Let's say the word, ‘bed’.

Repeat after me.

‘bed’

‘bed’

‘bed’

Let's now use minimal pairs.

Words that sound almost the same

but the vowel sounds are different.

They're a good way to practice.

First, just the sounds.

Watch how my mouth moves and repeat after me.

/æ/

/æ/

/æ/

/e/

/e/

/e/

/æ/

/e/

/æ/

/ɛ/

/æ/

/e/

Let's use the words ‘bad’ and ‘bed’.

Repeat after me.

‘bad’

‘bad’

‘bad’

‘bed’

‘bed’

‘bed’

‘bad’

‘bed’

‘bad’

‘bed’

‘bad’

‘bed’

Okay, guys.

Let's now read minimal pairs together.

Watch very carefully how my mouth moves and repeat after me.

Let's get started.

‘and’ ‘end’

‘axe’ ‘X’

‘bag’ ‘beg’

‘band’ ‘bend’

‘bat’ ‘bet’

‘bland’ ‘blend’

‘cattle’ ‘kettle’

‘dad’ ‘dead’

‘fad’ ‘fed’

‘flash’ ‘flesh’

‘gas’ ‘guess’

‘gassed’ ‘guest’

‘had’ ‘head’

‘ham’ ‘hem’

‘jam’ ‘gem’

‘land’ ‘lend’

‘man’ ‘men’

‘manned’ ‘mend’

‘marry’ ‘merry’

‘mat’ ‘met’

‘pan’ ‘pen’

‘pat’ ‘pet’

‘rabble’ ‘rebel’

‘sad’ ‘said’

‘sat’ ‘set’

‘shall’ ‘shell’

‘spanned’ ‘spend’

‘tack’ ‘tech’

‘track’ ‘trick’

‘tamper’ ‘temper’

‘vat’ ‘vet’

Great guys.

Okay guys.

Moving on to words now.

I'm going to show you some words and I want you to read them with the proper vowel sound.

Is it /æ/ or is it /e/?

Let's get to it.

Let's start with the first word.

How do you pronounce this ‘tack’ or ‘tech’?

‘tech’

Next word.

‘marry’ or ‘merry’?

‘merry’

Next word.

‘sad’ or ‘said’?

‘said’

Next word.

‘track’ or ‘trek’?

‘track’

Next word.

‘bat’ or ‘bet’?

‘bat’

Then we have ‘track’ or ‘trek’?

‘trek’

Next word.

‘and’ or ‘end’?

‘end’

Next word.

‘sad’ or ‘said’?

‘sad’

Next word.

‘bat’ or ‘bet’?

‘bet’

And finally,

‘marry’ or ‘merry’?

‘marry.

Very good guys.

Okay students.

Let's move on to sentences containing /æ/ and /e/ sounds.

Pay attention and repeat after me.

The first sentence,

‘Dad had a pet bat.’

Second sentence,

‘We met sad men who beg.’

And finally,

‘The merry vet had cattle.’

Excellent guys.

Let's move on.

That was very good guys.

You now understand a lot better the difference between the English vowel sounds /æ/ and /e/.

It's tricky but it takes time practice of listening and speaking to master these vowels,

but you can do it.

Also you can watch my other pronunciation videos.

They are extremely helpful if you want to improve your English skills,

so see you next time.

Thank you so much for watching my video guys.

If you've liked it, show me your support,

click ‘like’, subscribe to the channel,

put your comments below, and share my video.

See you.