LONG VOWELS
SHORT VOWELS
MINIMAL PAIR
/iː/ long i: vs /ɪ/ short ɪ
Listen to the sound /iː/
Observe the picture of the mouth.
Look at the position of the tongue and lips.
Now let's practise the sound /iː/
three cream me
cheese beef b, c
sheep please d, e
pea green g, p
tea bee t, v
Watch the first part of the video (45 seconds) and listen to the pronunciation of the words:
fleece, sea, machine
Listen to the sound /ɪ/
Observe the picture of the mouth.
Look at the position of the tongue and lips.
Now let's practise the sound /ɪ/
ship hill
mill tip
bin bill
big little
six
Let's practise these minimal pairs now:
seek / sick
sheep / ship
seat / sit
green / grin
bean / bin
meal / mill
heel / hill
these / this
leave / live
feel / fill
Now in the following English video lesson, we look at how to pronounce the short vowel /ɪ/. And we also compare /ɪ/ with /iː/ - two sounds in English that are commonly confused, and help YOU to improve your pronunciation and communication skills.
Watch the video and repeat after the presenter:
hit / heat
lip / leap
sick / seek
will / wheel
And here's again the first video you watched, but this time let's practise the long sound /iː/
and afterwards the minimal pair /iː/ long i: and /ɪ/ short ɪ
litre / litter
cheap / chip
feet / fit
he's / his
peach / pitch
sheep / ship