/e/ vs /eɪ/: pen vs pain
The short pure /e/ and the gliding /eɪ/ separate wet/wait, test/taste and sell/sail. Speakers whose languages have pure vowels often flatten the glide and lose the contrast.
- Medium impact
- 7 pairs
- Three voices
1 / 10
Which word do you hear?
See the difference
/eɪ/ MOVES; it starts at /e/ and glides up towards /ɪ/. Say 'pain' slowly and feel your jaw close during the vowel; on 'pen' nothing moves.
All 7 pairs
In a sentence
Hardest for speakers of
- Spanish
- Japanese
- Italian
- Tagalog
- Indonesian
Questions
What is the difference between pen and pain?
pen /pen/ uses the /e/ sound while pain /peɪn/ uses /eɪ/. /eɪ/ MOVES; it starts at /e/ and glides up towards /ɪ/. Say 'pain' slowly and feel your jaw close during the vowel; on 'pen' nothing moves.
Which learners find the /e/ vs /eɪ/ contrast hardest?
It is most challenging for Spanish, Japanese, Italian, Tagalog, Indonesian speakers, whose first languages don't separate these two sounds.