These words we would call minimal pairs.

The only difference between the two words are these two vowel sounds and F.

Today we are going to clear up the difference between A and F the tongue position, the mouth shape.

We're going to compare some minimal pairs words which sound similar, and we're going to put them into sentences and you'll be able to communicate with people more confidently when you speak English.

Hi, by the way, I forgot to say I'm Elliot from E.

T.

J.

English.

I'm a British pronunciation coach.

I teach modern received pronunciation, very common accent in the south of England.

If you like my accent, that's the accent I teach.

But remember, there are many other accents available.

The main thing to remember is that both of these sounds of what we would call front or frontal short vowels, meaning the sounds are produced in the front of the mouth.

The tongue is more at the front of the mouth, and they're short, so they're not long like or are there short?

They do sound kind of similar to many non native speakers, and this is how words like and can sometimes be pronounced as end.

So we will start with the sound, which is the easier of the two sounds for this sound.

You just need your tongue near the front of your mouth.

It's not all the way at the top, and it's not all the way at the bottom.

It's a half open, half closed mouth, so the tongue is not too high.

Not too low.

Uh huh.

You see, there's a tiny spread of the lips, but don't focus on that too much.

Focus more on just keeping your tongue kind of in the middle, slightly upper area of your mouth.

Your tongue should be below your top teeth, so don't let them get too close, or else it will become more of like a sound.

We wanted to be an F end.

Send mend friend.

Let's just try a sentence.

Please send your friend my best regards.

Please send your friend my best regards.

And now, when things get tricky, we're going to compare this sound with ah for this sound.

The tongue is a bit lower in the mouth So I want you to focus on just pushing it down a bit more And this will cause the chin to drop the mouth to open a bit more.

So we have the sound.

We were just studying f And now lower the tongue slightly and open the mouth a bit more.

The other thing I want you to do is slightly spread the cheeks a bit more.

Smile just a little bit more for this sound.

Uh huh.

Ah.

So look at my mouth and watch the difference.

Uh, my mouth is just generally a little bit more open for the at sound, so the key is sound The tongue is a bit higher More in the middle of the mouth.

The at sound We push the tongue all the way down, open the mouth a bit more and spread the cheeks a bit more.

Ah Ah.

So in words like and hand man sand fan.

Firstly, just practice going.

Uh huh.

Uh ah.

Make sure you're making a very clear difference between the two.

Let's try it the opposite way around now.

Mhm.

Yeah.

Ah, so now what we're going to do is compare some words, which sounds similar minimal pairs, and I know it will make you feel like a baby, and it's quite annoying.

But a great way to practice is just by doing the consonant before and practicing the two different sounds.

For example, mah mah mah meh meh meh Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt, Sat, sat say it really does help warm you up and it gets the muscle memory working.

Let's start with the most common mistakes students of my course make.

And the funny thing is, most of my students don't even know that they are making this mistake and and and, uh and, uh and end end.

And don't forget to try the opposite way around hod so we could go.

Ha ha ha!

Uh, had head head had head.

Remember, the mouth is a bit more open for the ah ha Had Matt met, Matt met Bad bed, Bad bed, back, back the bad bed.

Sad set.

Ah, sad, said Sasa.

Sexy.

Sad, said lad.

Lead lad, Lead bat bets that bet.

And finally, for today sand.

Send Sasha Sand set send, and if you're struggling, remember to go back to the basics.

Remember the mouth shape, he said.

he was sad about his sore head.

He said he was sad about his sore head.

Matt met a lad who led him home.

Matt met a lad who led him home.

I bet there is a bad bat in your bed.

I bet there is a bad bat in your bed.

Please send me some sand beforehand.

Please send me some sand beforehand.

Traditionally, the at sound is placed with the short vowels, but many people do argue that it can sometimes be a little bit of a long vowel.

So don't be worried if you pronounce that that sounds a little bit long.

Sometimes it's okay, and it's not a problem.

Remember, a lesson is always the beginning with pronunciation.

It's muscular.

Were training your muscles.

So now it's all about the practice.

You do the training you do for your tongue in your mouth to put these into your natural speech.

Just practicing some sentences is great, but you need to be consciously thinking about these sounds now everything you do every time you open your mouth, think about how you're pronouncing these two sounds and always make sure you're getting the difference and help each other out guys write in the comments some other minimal pairs with AP and Air, so we can create a nice big list for other people to add and practice together.

And please let me know if you'd like me to do more lessons on minimal pairs.

There are so many in English, and I see students who join my course struggle with this, but they can be fixed.

It's a process of muscle memory and training.

Don't forget, we can work together.

If you'd like me to train, you, reduce your accent or maybe work towards a British accent.

I can help you with that.

I am a British pronunciation teacher, and you can join my course at E.

T j english dot com, which includes both recorded content for you to practice, but also the ability to contact me by voice message on WhatsApp whenever you want, so that I can give you feedback advice.

We can also have some conversation practice, so it's great.

And please, if you enjoyed this video, don't forget to give me a thumbs up.

Subscribe If you haven't already.

I guess I'll see you next time.

Cheers, guys.