/ɛ/ and /eɪ/ | Learn English Pronunciation | Minimal Pairs Practice

Shaw English Online

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Hello, students.

Welcome to this English pronunciation video.

In this video we are going to focus on two English vowel sounds.

/ɛ/ and /eɪ/ These are two very important vowel sounds

And they sound different even though very similar.

Let's start with two example words.

The first word is ‘let’.

Can you hear the sound /ɛ/?

‘let’ The second word is ‘late’.

/eɪ/ ‘late’

So ‘let’ and ‘late’ I know to some of you they sound exactly the

But with a little bit of practice you will hear the difference,

so keep watching.

By the end of this video, I promise you will improve your hearing and

pronunciation of these two vowel sounds.

Get ready guys.

I'm gonna help you make these sounds /ɛ/ and /eɪ/ in English.

I want you to hear the difference and to be able to pronounce them correctly.

Also, it's very important to know the IPA spelling,

watch how I move my mouth, and as usual repeat after me.

I know that you can master these sounds, so let's get to it.

First, let's learn how to make the sound /ɛ/.

So your tongue is in the middle part of your mouth.

Okay, and your mouth and doesn't move.

Can you repeat after me?

/ɛ/ /ɛ/

/ɛ/ Let's now practice with a word please.

Repeat after me.

let For the sound /eɪ/.

It's a little bit trickier.

It's what we call a diphthong.

So it's actually two vowel sounds combined.

So as you can see, your mouth moves and your tongue goes up a

little as you produce the sound /eɪ/.

Can you repeat after me?

/eɪ/ /eɪ/

/eɪ/

With the word ‘late’.

Repeat after me.

late Great job!

Let's now use minimal pairs.

Words that are extremely similar but the vowel sounds change.

They're a very good way to practice your vowel sounds.

First let's just practice the sounds.

So watch how my mouth moves and repeat after me.

/ɛ/ /ɛ/

/ɛ/ /eɪ/

/eɪ/ /eɪ/

/ɛ/ /eɪ/

/ɛ/ /eɪ/

/ɛ/ /eɪ/

Let's now use our words ‘let’ and ‘late’.

Repeat after me.

Guys, let's now find out about other minimal pairs.

I'm gonna read them to you.

I want you to repeat after me and pay attention to my mouth and how it moves.

special spatial

Excellent guys.

Ok let's continue practicing.

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

English vowel sound /ɛ/ and /eɪ/

Let's get started.

Let's start with the first word.

Is it ‘bed’ or ‘bade’?

It's ‘bed’ of course.

‘fell’ or ‘fail’?

Which one is it?

It's ‘fail’.

‘test’?

‘taste’?

It’s ‘taste’.

Guys, next word.

‘men’?

‘main’?

‘main’ Next word.

‘ren’?

‘rain’?

It's ‘rain’.

Next ‘sell’ or ‘sale’?

It's ‘sell’.

‘test’?

‘taste’?

Which one is it?

In this case, it's ‘test’.

‘men’?

‘main’?

It's ‘men’.

‘sell’ or ‘sale’?

‘sale’ of course.

And finally, ‘when’ or ‘wane’?

It's ‘when’.

Great job guys.

Let's carry on.

Okay guys let's now practice with sentences.

I have sentences containing /ɛ/ and /eɪ/sounds.

So pay attention and repeat after me.

The first sentence is: ‘Ken made cakes well.’

The second sentence: ‘Tell him to send red paint.’

And finally: ‘Men fed a whale in the rain.’

Let's continue on.

Great job guys.

You now have a better understanding of the difference

between the English vowel sounds /ɛ/ and /eɪ/.

But keep practicing.

It takes time and practice of listening and speaking to master the vowel sounds.

But you can do it.

Also make sure you watch the rest of my pronunciation videos.

Very important if you want to master the English language.

See you next time.

Thank you so much guys for watching my video.

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Click ‘like’.

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