Minimal pairs: /ɜː/, /ɪə/ and /eə/

Ex. 1 Look at the following words containing a. /ɜː/, b. /ɪə/ and find their counterparts containing the diphthong /eə/.

a. burr, err, fir/fur, her, purr

b. beer, clear, dear/deer, ear, fear, hear/here, leer, mere, peer, spear, steer, tear (crying), year

Ex. 2 Choose the correct option. 

a. All is fare/fair/fir in love and war.   

b. Please open the window. We need some air/heir.

c. Who was the air/heir/hare to the Spanish throne?   

d. Have you met the mare/mayor/mere of Paris?

e. Some teenagers start smoking because of pare/peer/pear pressure.   

f. Please be careful on the wooden stares/stairs/steers.   

g. It's best to stare/steer/stair well clear of criminals. 

h. Men shouldn't leer/lair at women. 

i. The RSPCA rescued a young deer/dear/dare in the city park yesterday. 

j. The right to bare/bear/beer arms is an often quoted American law.

k. "Nothing to fear/fir/fare but fear/fir/fare itself."  

KEY

1. a. bare/bear, air/heir, fair/fare, hair/hare, pear

    b. bare/bear, Claire, dare, air/ere, fair/fare, hair/hare, lair, mare/mayor, pair, spare, stair/stare, tear (apart), yeah

2. a. fair, b. air, c. heir, d. mayor, e. peer, f. stairs, g. steer, h. leer, i. deer, j. bear, k. fear, fear,

Minimal pairs: /iː/ and /ɪə/

Ex. 1 Look at the following words containing the vowel /iː/ and find their counterparts containing the diphthong /ɪə/.

be/bee, bead, dee, E, fee, he, knee, me, pea, tea/tee, we, ye

Ex. 2 In each group of words find the one which does not contain the diphthong /ɪə/.

a. friar, career, superior, sphere

b. dearest, bear, King Lear, Caribbean

c. pianist, leer, foreign, area

d. misdemeanour, we're, gear, nearer

e. pier, peer, pear, beer

KEY

1. beer, beard, dear/deer, ear, fear, hear, near, mere, pier, tear (eye), we're/weir, year

2. a. friar, b. bear, c. foreign, d. misdemeanour, e. pear

Minimal pairs: /ɑː/, /aʊ/ and /əʊ/

Ex. Look at the following words containing 1. /ɑː/, 2. /əʊ/ and find their counterparts containing the diphthong /aʊ/.

1. bar, Bart, can't, car, Carl, grass, maths, tart

2. boat, bro, clone, foal, goat, gross, hoe, no, road/rode, woe

KEY

1. bough, bout, count, cow, cowl, grouse, mouths, tout

2. bout, brow, clown, foul/fowl, gout, grouse, how, now, rowed (argued), wow 

Minimal pairs: /ɔː/, /ɜː/ and /əʊ/

Ex. 1 Look at the following words containing the vowel 1. /ɔː/, 2. /ɜː/ and find their counterparts containing the diphthong /əʊ/.

a. boar/bore, call, called, corpse, door, floor, gnaw, morn/mourn, prawn, raw/roar, soar/sore, stork, tore

b. Bert, burn, curt, earn, earth, fir, girl, hurl, learn, nurse, perk, sir, stern, turn, were

Ex. 2 How does the 'silent -e' change the pronunciation of the following words?

cod - code, cop - cope, hop - hope, mop-mope, ton-tone

KEY
1. a. bow, coal, cold, copes, dough, Flo/floe/flow, know/no, moan, prone, roe, so, stoke, toe
b. boat, bone, coat, own, oath, foe, goal, hole, loan/lone, nose, poke, sew/so, stone, tone, woe

2. In the first four words the letter <o> stands for /ɒ/ on its own and in ton it is /ʌ/, but when there is a silent <-e>, the vowel is /əʊ/.

Minimal pairs: /ɔː/, /aɪ/ and /ɔɪ/

Ex. 1 Look at the following words containing the vowel /ɔː/ and find their counterparts containing the diphthong /ɔɪ/. What are the homophones of boar, oar and soar?

all, ball, boar, call, core, corn, fall, oar, roar, soar, tall, tore

Ex. 2 Look at the following words containing the vowel /aɪ/ and find their counterparts containing the diphthong /ɔɪ/.

aisle, bile, buy, eye, Kyle, file, lighter, rye, sigh, tied, try, vied
 
KEY
1. /ɔɪ/: oil, boil, boy/buoy, coil, coy, coin, foil, oy, Roy, soy, toil, toy; homophones: bore, ore, sore
2. oil, boil, boy/buoy, oy, coil, foil, loiter, roy, soy, toyed, Troy, void

Minimal pairs: /ɑː/, /aɪ/ and /eɪ/

Ex. 1 Look at the following words containing the vowel /ɑː/ and find their counterparts containing the diphthong /aɪ/.

arm, bar, bard, bark, Carl, cart, darn, mar, mart, par, scar, star, tar

Ex. 2 Look at the following words containing the diphthong /eɪ/ and find their counterparts containing the diphthong /aɪ/.

bake, brain, day, hate, hay, lane, lay, mane/main, may/May, neigh, pay, praise, pray, raise, ray, say, stay

Ex. 3 In each group of words choose the word which does not have /aɪ/ or /eɪ/.

/aɪ/ a. incline, pine, blinder, consider   b. achieve, blight, apply, drive

/eɪ/ c. Maine, Spain, train, said   d. afraid, Norway, quay, laid

KEY

1. I'm, buy, bide, bike, Kyle, kite, dine, my, mite, pie, sky, sty, Thai

2. bike, brine, die, height, hi/high, line, lie, mine, my, nigh, pie, prize, pry, rise, rye, sigh, sty

3. /aɪ/ a. consider, b. achieve

/eɪ/ c. said, d. quay