Light or Right? Price or Prize? Consonant Minimal Pairs for Business English

20 min

A trader in Musanze phones a supplier in Kigali: "The rate is three thousand, and please correct the order on Monday." The supplier hears "The late is tree thousand, and please collect the order on Monday," and on Monday nobody comes. In business, a single consonant can cost a sale. This lesson trains the consonant pairs that most often cause trouble, using the vocabulary of buying and selling.

Many of these pairs are hard for a reason. According to linguists' descriptions of Kinyarwanda, its consonants include a single r-like sound and no separate /l/, the sound /p/ appears only in words borrowed from other languages, and there are no "th" sounds, /θ/ and /ð/. So a Kinyarwanda speaker of English has to learn to keep apart sounds that Kinyarwanda does not need to distinguish. Knowing why a pair is hard is the first step to mastering it.

Definition

consonant (n): a speech sound made by stopping or narrowing the air with the lips, teeth or tongue, such as /p/, /s/, /l/.
minimal pair (n): two words that differ in only one sound: light / right, price / prize.
voiced / voiceless (adj): made with / without vibration of the vocal cords. /z/ is voiced, /s/ is voiceless.
place of articulation (n): where in the mouth a consonant is made: lips, teeth, the ridge behind the top teeth, further back.

1 The pairs, and how to make them

Pair	How to make the difference	Business minimal pairs
/l/ – /r/	/l/: tongue tip touches the ridge behind the top teeth. /r/: tongue tip curls up and back without touching; lips slightly rounded.	light / right · lent / rent · late / rate · collect / correct · load / road
/p/ – /b/	Both lips. /p/ is voiceless, with a puff of air at the start of a stressed syllable; /b/ buzzes.	pill / bill · pay / bay · pack / back · cap / cab
/b/ – /v/	/b/: both lips close. /v/: top teeth rest on the lower lip, and the air buzzes through.	ban / van · best / vest · boat / vote
/s/ – /z/	Same place; /z/ buzzes like a bee.	price / prize · advice (n) / advise (v) · loose / lose
/s/ – /ʃ/	/ʃ/: tongue further back, lips rounded and pushed forward, as in "shh!".	sell / shell · save / shave · sip / ship · seat / sheet
/tʃ/ – /ʃ/	/tʃ/ starts with a short stop, like /t/ + /ʃ/; /ʃ/ flows.	cheap / sheep · chip / ship · chair / share · watch / wash
/θ/ – /t/ – /s/	/θ/: tongue tip between the teeth, blow gently. Not /t/ (tongue behind the teeth, stopped) and not /s/ (hiss).	three / tree · thank / tank · thin / tin · think / sink

A note on British /r/. In standard British English, a written r is pronounced only before a vowel sound: car /kɑː/, but car engine /kɑːr ˈendʒɪn/; rate /reɪt/, price /praɪs/. So the /l/–/r/ contrast matters most at the start of a word or after another consonant.

2 Spelling clues

-ce is a noun with /s/, -se a verb with /z/: advice / advise, device / devise. Practice (noun) and practise (verb) follow the spelling rule in British English but are both said with /s/.
ch is usually /tʃ/ (cheap, charge), but /ʃ/ in some French words (machine, brochure, chef) and /k/ in some Greek ones (character, technical).
th is /θ/ in most nouns, adjectives and verbs (thanks, three, think) and /ð/ in small grammar words (the, this, that, then, though).

Worked example: repairing a phone order

A supplier mishears an order. What the trader meant: "Please collect the rice at the right price: three thousand a sack." What the supplier heard: "Please correct the lice at the light prize: tree thousand a sack."

Find each wrong word and its pair: collect / correct (/l/–/r/); rice / lice (/r/–/l/); right / light (/r/–/l/); price / prize (/s/–/z/); three / tree (/θ/–/t/).
Name the mouth movement for each target sound: /l/ tongue touches; /r/ tongue curls, no touch; /s/ no buzz; /θ/ tongue between the teeth.
Say the sentence slowly, stressing the content words: Please colLECT the RICE at the RIGHT PRICE: THREE THOUsand a SACK.
Check with a partner, who writes down exactly what they hear.

Warning

Don't replace /θ/ with /t/ or /s/: three is not tree or sree; thank you is not tank you.
Don't swap /l/ and /r/ in business words: rent (what you pay for a shop) is not lent (past of lend).
Don't add a vowel to break up consonant groups: price /praɪs/, not "pirice"; brand /brænd/, not "birand".
Don't forget the buzz: the prize you win ends in /z/; the price you pay ends in /s/.

Tip

Hand, mirror, paper. A hand on your throat feels the buzz of voiced sounds (/z/, /v/, /b/). A mirror shows whether your tongue is between your teeth for /θ/. A strip of paper in front of your lips moves for the puff of /p/ but not for /b/.

How to pronounce L and R, Pronunciation with Emma (about 6½ minutes, 2020). Copy her mouth position for each sound, then repeat her minimal pairs, such as lice and rice.

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Practice

Write the pair from the lesson: (a) the money you pay for a shop / past of lend (b) what you pay / what you win (c) not expensive / a farm animal (d) a number / a plant (e) to give an opinion (verb) / an opinion (noun).
In pairs: Student A reads one word from each pair; Student B points to the word heard. (a) light / right (b) bill / pill (c) van / ban (d) sell / shell (e) chip / ship (f) think / sink. Swap after six words.
Voiced or voiceless? Touch your throat and decide for the first sound: (a) zip (b) sip (c) van (d) fan (e) bill (f) pill.
Read aloud three times, faster each time: Red lorry, yellow lorry. · Three free throws. · She sells cheap sheets.
Correct the written mistakes caused by mishearing: (a) The lent for the shop is due on Friday. (b) We won first price in the business fair. (c) Can you give me some advise about loans?
Write a five-line phone order between a trader and a supplier that uses at least five words from the minimal-pair table. Perform it with a partner who writes down the order; compare.

Show answersHide answers

(a) rent / lent (b) price / prize (c) cheap / sheep (d) three / tree (e) advise / advice.
Answers will vary.
(a) voiced (b) voiceless (c) voiced (d) voiceless (e) voiced (f) voiceless.
Answers will vary. Check /r/ and /l/ in the first, /θ/ in the second, and /ʃ/, /s/ and /tʃ/ in the third.
(a) The rent for the shop is due on Friday. (b) We won first prize in the business fair. (c) Can you give me some advice about loans?
Answers will vary.

Quick check

Which pair differs only in voicing (one buzzes, one does not)?

Key points

Key pairs: /l/–/r/ (light, right), /p/–/b/ (pill, bill), /b/–/v/ (ban, van), /s/–/z/ (price, prize), /s/–/ʃ/ (sell, shell), /tʃ/–/ʃ/ (cheap, sheep), /θ/–/t/–/s/ (three, tree, sink).
Same place, different buzz; or same buzz, different place. Use your hand, a mirror and a strip of paper.
Spelling helps: -ce noun /s/, -se verb /z/; th /θ/ in content words, /ð/ in grammar words.

Sources and credits

Explanations, consonant chart, tables, worked example and practice written by Ganzaa. Pronunciations are standard British English in IPA, as in the Oxford Learner's Dictionaries. The consonants of Kinyarwanda are as given in the article Kinyarwanda, Wikipedia (facts only).
Video: How to Pronounce L and R, Pronunciation with Emma, embedded from YouTube.

11 The pairs, and how to make them

22 Spelling clues

1 The pairs, and how to make them

2 Spelling clues