Consonants

/b/ /p/ pet – bet; cap – cab; patch – batch; robe – rope; simple – symbol;
She was well robed. She was well roped.
She was the Bride of Lammermoor. She was the pride of Lammermoor.
It was in her lap. It was in her lab.
It’s so rapid. It’s so rabid.
/d/ /t/ time – dime; tart – dart; trip – drip; tin – din; petal – pedal; matter – madder;
Sutton – sudden; latter – ladder; rote – road; brute – brood;
Time magazine; Dime magazine.
That’s true. That’s Drew.
What a lot of petals! What a lot of pedals!
/k/ /g/ come – gum; coal – goal; clad – glad; lack – lag; lock – log; bicker – bigger; decree – degree;
ankle – angle.
/v/ /f/ feel – veal; few – view; referent – reverent; proof – prove; leaf – leave; belief – believe.
/v/ /θ/ free – three; Fred – thread; fret – threat; fought – thought; reef - wreath; half – hearth.
/v/ /w/ veal – wheel; verse – worse; vain – Wayne; vine – wine; via – wire; veil – wail.
/θ/ /t/ /s/ thin – tin - sin; thank – tank - sank; theme – teem - seem; thaw – taw - saw; thought – taught -
sought; faith – fate - face.
A thorough method; a thirsty thrust; thinks worth thinking about. It took many months of
methodical and lengthy research. In theory, both methods should work. Throw it at greater depth.
Good health is above wealth.
/ð/ /d/ /z/ seethe – seed – seize; teethe – teed – tease; breathing – breeding – breezing; bathe – bade –
baize.
Those rhythms; father and mother; My brothers did that themselves. This leather is as smooth as
a feather. They gathered together in front of the ladder. Birds of one feather flock together. He
was breathing smoothly, although the weather was bad.
/s/ /ʃ / sip – ship; sort – short; sour – shower; soot – shoot; ass – ash; plussed – plushed.
/s/ /z/ sink – zink; seal – zeal; sip – zip; face – phase; peace – peas; place – plays.
/ʃ/ /ʒ/ dilution – delusion; glacier – glazier; Confucian – confusion; Aleutian - allusion; pressure –
pleasure;
she should have mentioned that in front of the bishop. It’s a sure sign of shock. Shall I wash my
new shawl, or just brush it? He bought her shoes at a new shoe-shop in Marshall Street.
a vision of confusion; the usual measure; Leisure and pleasure usually go together. Marshal
Zhukov had several divisions camouflaged in the forest. Lack of vision leads either to confusion
or to collision.
/tʃ/ /dʒ/ choke – joke; cheer – jeer; chest – jest; chunk – junk; cheap – jeep; breeches – bridges; rich –
ridge; leech – liege.
A large gin; a giant sandwich; orange juice; George journeys to Japan next July. Judge James is a
genius at his job. There were many changes on the agenda. Just how urgent is your job, Mr.
Jones?
/h/ /-/ hide – I’d…; hitches – itches; hair – heir; hedge – edge; hall – all; harmful – armful; handy –
Andy; unharmed – unarmed.
 Vowels

/i:/ /i/ read – rid; greed – grid; scheme – skim; keen – kin; bean – bin; leave – live; steal – still; deal –
dill; peel – pill; peach – pitch; reach – rich; streaked – strict; feast – fist.
As free as a bee. A healed knee. Eager to leave. A meeting in the street. Even he agrees. Jean
will receive her degree in three weeks. Read these three tales to me.
a.When did he leave? When did he live? b. deep into the future. Dip into the future. c. The deal
was excellent. The dill was excellent. He was lip-reading. He was leap-reading.
/æ/ /e/ bag – beg; pack – peck; lag – leg; mat – met; dad – dead; tack – Tech sad – said; latter – letter;
lad – led; gas – guess; sand – send; gnat – net; tan – ten; racks – wrecks.
a. She used to give him a pack in the morning. She used to give him a peck in the morning. b.
I’ve mislaid the pan. I’ve mislaid the pen. c. It’s not enough to band them. It’s not enough to
bend them.
Ann had a black hand-bag. He came back, hat in hand. He that hath some land must have some
labour (proverb). Dan and Harry ran to the taxi-cab.
Bead – bid – bed – bad; peep – pip – pep – pap; seat – sit – set – sat; seal – sill – sell – Sal; deed
– did – dead – dad; seed – Syd – said – sad; lead – lid – led – lad.
/u:/ /υ/ pool – pull; fool – full; Luke – look; goose – good.
He refused to move. At noon we were in the mood to go to the swimming pool. In june, we will
move over to Ruth. By hook and by crook. He is a good cook. The woman took the bottle and
shook it. Mr. Brook whose cookbook you have brought is our butcher.
/α:/ /л/ bark – buck; carp – cup; dark – duck; lark – luck; heart – hut; barter – butter; harm – hum; last –
lust; calm – come; march – much; psalm – some; darn – done; Carter – cutter.
Father parked his car near the dark palms. He started an argument about modern art. Charles
owns a farm not far from town. The guard barred the entrance. Far from eye, far from heart. The
dog in the garden gave a sharp bark. Stop fussing and come upstairs. The sun comes up earlier
during the summer months. Sunday comes before Monday.
a. I don’t think he can part with his club. I don’t think he can putt with his club. b. The carp was
on the table. c. The cup was on the table. He gave two barks. The gave two bucks.
/з:/ /α:/ bird – bard; curt – cart; heart – hard; curd – card; hurt – heart; burn – barn; dirt – dart; curl –
Carl; shirk – shark.
The girls were learning German. Bert was working hard to earn some extra money. Mr. Burns
turned at the curb. She hurt her hand working in the house.
a. I’ve already heard that bard. I’ve already heard that bird. b. I’ve smashed the cooler. I’ve
smashed the curler. c. This book is worse than you might expect it to be. This bark is worse than
you might expect it to be. d. Keep it well cooled, Helen. Keep it well curled, Helen. e. Hurt
feelings are never forgotten. Heart feelings are never forgotten.
/ɔ:/ /ɒ/ cord – cod; naught – not; dawn – don; sport – spot; pawned – pond; stalk – stock; awed – odd;
cork – cock; gnawed – nod; port – pot.
They called the doctor when their daughter caught a cold. A tall man was crawling in the hall.
The audience in the law-court saw Paul being hit in the jaw. They stopped all the clocks on the
docks. He’s stocked his shop with cots. A boat was rocking on the pond. The doctor was in the
corridor talking to Tom.
 Diphthongs

/e/ /ei/ led – laid; red – raid; men – main; pen – pain; edge – age; get – gate; rest – raced; met – mate;
west – waste; debt – date; well – wail; bell – bail; sell – sail; fell – fail.
/ai/ /ei/ lay – lie; say – sigh; pie – pay; bay – by; lane – line; raid – ride; dive – Dave; dies – days; lime –
lame; late – light; rape – ripe; mild – mailed; tile – tail; lake – like.
/ɔi/ See – say – sigh – soy; peas – pays – pies – poise; leak – lake – like; keen – cane – kin – coin;
tree – tray – try – Troy; bees – bays – buys – boys; lead – laid – lied – Lloyd.
/ɔ:/ /əυ/ law – low; Paul – pole; caught – coat; hall – whole; naught – note; walk – woke; called – cold;
lord – load; pause – pose; porch – poach; born – bone; wrought – rote.
/αυ/ Shout out loud! The Browns found a mouse in their house. It was very cloudy in the mountains.
How loud that dog howls! Now Howard, speak out!
/iə/ an experienced engineer; we’re not to be feared. He couldn’t hear, so he drew nearer. They
steered nearer and nearer to the pier. Out theatre staged Shakespeare’s King Lear last year. The
man with the long beard was drinking a pint of beer.
/εə/ a fair share; wear and tear; somewhere in the square; Take this chair upstairs. Mary’s hair is
always combed with care. The mayor had nothing to declare. He could barely spare the money
for the fare. Their parents declared that they were to repair an old mistake of theirs.
Dead – dared; pier – pair; deer – dare; really – rarely; shed – shared; dearie – dairy; very – vary;
mere – mare; merry – Mary; fear – fare; cheer – chair.
/υə/ a tour of the moors; the verdict of the jury; The doctor was sure tat he was past cure. Henry
Moore’s art is sure to endure the passage of time. Make sure that the tourists are all insured.
They found the poor gourmet in the sewer.
Give it to the peer. Give it to the poor. A new point is what I need. A new pint is what I need. He
is always rowing with his sister. He is always rowing with his sister. Why don’t you sell your
sheers? Why don’t you sell your shares? She can endear him. She can endure him.

I take it you already know/ Of tough and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble, but not you/ On hiccough, thorough, laugh and through.
Well done! And now you wish perhaps/ To learn of these familiar traps?

Beware of heard, a dreadful word,/ That looks like beard and sounds like bird.
And dead: it’s said like bed not bead,/ For goodness sake, don’t call it deed!
Watch out for meat and great and threat,/ They rhyme with suite and straight and debt.

A moth is mot a moth in mother/ Nor both in bother, broth in brother,

And cork and front and word and ward/ And font and front and work and sword.
And do and go and thwart and cart – come, come, I’ve hardly made a start!
A dreadful language? Man alive,/ I’d mastered it when I was five!