Minimal pairs are words that sound the same apart from one sound. The only difference between cap /kap/ and gap /gap/ is the initial consonant sound.
Comparison Words (minimal pairs in the order /k/ - /g/) 1 cap – gap 3 close – glows 5 mucky – muggy 7 hunker – hunger 9 2 cave – gave 4 crease – Greece 6 ankle – angle sack – sag 8 locked – logged 10 pluck – plug Potentially Embarrassing/Offensive Mix-Ups (minimal pairs in the order /k/ - /g/) 1 ! cock – cog 2 ! dick – dig 3 ! fuck – fug 4 shack – ! shag 5 slack – ! slag 6 knickers – ! niggers
Words with /k/ and /g/ category, congratulations, kangaroo, agriculture, geeky, gridlock, ground-breaking
Phrases (minimal pairs – not necessarily in the order /k/ - /g/) 1 came to the game 3 the crew grew
2 grab the crab
5 the vicar spoke with vigour 7 Doug ducked 4 wore glasses in class 6 Jack's jaguar Sentences (minimal pairs – not necessarily in the order /k/ - /g/)
1 Claire glared as Garry carried on. 2 The stag party thought it was a great idea to stack the beer crates. 3 The train guards were playing cards on the journey from Kent to Ghent. 4 Rick leaked to the press that the Premier League results had been rigged. 5 He grumbled that the only snag with this snack was that it easily crumbled. 6 Carrying a bag on my back around the art galleries is helping me lose calories.