Pairs that sound almost the same

1. 1
   ship/ʃɪp/

   noun

   A large boat that carries people or goods across the sea.
2. 2
   sheep/ʃiːp/

   noun

   A farm animal kept for its wool and its meat.
3. 3
   chip/tʃɪp/

   noun

   A small broken piece of something, or a thin fried slice of potato.
4. 4
   cheap/tʃiːp/

   adjective

   Costing little money.
5. 5
   fill/fɪl/

   verb

   To put enough into something to make it full.
6. 6
   feel/fiːl/

   verb

   To notice something through your body or your emotions.
7. 7
   soap/soʊp/

   noun

   What you wash with.
8. 8
   soup/suːp/

   noun

   A hot liquid food you eat with a spoon.
9. 9
   walk/wɔːk/iAlso said wɑːk.

   verb

   To move on your feet at a normal speed.
10. 10
    work/wɜːrk/

    verb

    To do a job.

The sentences

1. The ship leaves from the other side of the port.

2. There were sheep all over the road this morning.

3. This plate has a chip on the edge.

4. The hotel was cheap and surprisingly clean.

5. Could you fill this bottle with cold water?

6. I feel much better than I did yesterday.

7. There is no soap left in the bathroom.

8. The soup arrived before we had finished ordering.

9. We can walk there from here quite easily.

10. I have to work late again tonight.

Pronunciation

• ship/ʃɪp/

  Short and clipped. Let it end almost before it starts.

• sheep/ʃiːp/

  The vowel is held twice as long as in ship. Length is the only clue.

• chip/tʃɪp/

  Same short vowel as ship.

• cheap/tʃiːp/

  Long vowel, like sheep. Saying it short turns it into chip.

• fill/fɪl/

  Short vowel, and the L arrives quickly.

• feel/fiːl/

  Long vowel before the L. Most speakers cut it short and land on fill.

• soap/soʊp/

  The vowel slides from O towards U inside one syllable.

• soup/suːp/

  One steady vowel, no slide. That is the whole difference from soap.

• walk/wɔːk/

  The L is silent, and the vowel is the one in more.

• work/wɜːrk/

  The R colours the vowel. Nothing here sounds like walk.

Questions

What's the difference between ship and sheep?

Ship has a short vowel that ends almost before it starts, while sheep holds the vowel twice as long. That length is the only difference.

How do I know whether to say walk or work?

Walk has a silent L and the vowel from 'more'; work has an R-coloured vowel and sounds nothing like walk.

What does chip mean here?

Chip is a small broken piece of something, or a thin fried slice of potato.