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Alphabet Homophones and Minimal Pairs

A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS

Words and letters which are and aren't pronounced the same as letters of the alphabet.

By: Alex Case
Level: Beginner
Theme: General
Study Area: Pronunciation
      Page: /

Lesson Plan Content:


The alphabet homophones and minimal pairs

Without looking below for now, listen to your teacher and raise the “The same” card or “Different” card that you have been given depending on what you think about the pronunciation of the letters and words that you hear.

Label each line below with S for the same pronunciation or D for different pronunciation. If there are more than two, they are all the same or all different.

  1. A/ E
  2. B/ be/ bee
  3. B/ V
  4. C/ sea/ see
  5. C/ she
  6. D/ day
  7. D/ G
  8. G/ J
  9. G/ Z
  10. H/ etch
  11. H/ hay
  12. I/ eye
  13. K/ key
  14. L/ hell
  15. M/ me
  16. M/ N
  17. O/ oh/ owe
  18. O/ or
  19. P/ pay
  20. P/ pea/ pee
  21. Q/ coup
  22. Q/ cue/ queue
  23. R/ ah
  24. S/ see
  25. T/ tea/ tee
  26. U/ ewe/ yew/ you
  27. V/ buoy
  28. W/ double
  29. W/ UU
  30. X/ ex
  31. Y/ why

Check your answers as a class or with the next page, then work together to make sure you can pronounce the ones which are different above differently.

Choose words or letters from above and dictate them to your partner. If what you say could be written more than one way, they should write both the possibilities/ all the possibilities.

Do the same, but this time in context in a whole phrase or sentence.

 

Suggested answers

  1. A/ E – Different
  2. B/ be/ bee – The same
  3. B/ V – Different
  4. C/ sea/ see – The same
  5. C/ she – Different
  6. D/ day – Different
  7. D/ G – Different
  8. G/ J – Different
  9. G/ Z – Different
  10. H/ etch – Different
  11. H/ hay – Different
  12. I/ eye – The same
  13. K/ key – Different
  14. L/ hell – Different
  15. M/ me – Different
  16. M/ N – Different
  17. O/ oh/ owe – The same
  18. O/ or – Different
  19. P/ pay – Different
  20. P/ pea/ pee – The same
  21. Q/ coup – Different
  22. Q/ cue/ queue – The same
  23. R/ ah – The same (in most kinds of British English)
  24. S/ see – Different
  25. T/ tea/ tee – The same
  26. U/ ewe/ yew/ you – The same
  27. V/ buoy – Different
  28. W/ double – Different
  29. W/ UU – Slightly different/ Almost the same (only the stress is different)
  30. X/ ex – The same
  31. Y/ why – The same

 

Cards for students to hold up

 

The same

 

 

Different

 

The same

 

 

Different

 

The same

 

 

Different

 

The same

 

 

Different

 

The same

 

 

Different

 

The same

 

 

Different

 

The same

 

 

Different

 

Words pronounced the same as letters easier stage

Without looking above, write letters which have the same pronunciation as these words in the gaps below:

  • be/ bee/ _________________
  • sea/ see/ ________________
  • eye/ ____________________
  • oh/ owe/ ________________
  • pea/ pee/ _______________
  • cue/ queue/ _____________
  • ah/ ____________________
  • tea/ tee/ ________________
  • ewe/ yew/ you/ ___________
  • ex/ _____________________
  • why/ ____________________

---------------------------------------------------

Words pronounced the same as letters more challenging stage

Without looking above, write words which match the letters below for pronunciation in the gaps given.

  • B/ __________________/ __________________
  • C/ __________________/ __________________
  • I/___________________
  • O/ _________________/ ___________________
  • P/ _________________/ ___________________
  • Q/ _________________/ ___________________
  • R/ _________________
  • U/ _________________/ ___________________/ _________________
  • X/ _________________
  • Y/ _________________

 

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