149 Go to /s/ Worksheet Go to /θ/ Worksheet /s/ “sank” vs /θ/ “thank” Comparison
Minimal pairs are words that sound the same apart from one sound. The only difference between sank /saŋk/ and thank /θaŋk/ is the initial consonant sound.
Comparison Words (minimal pairs in the order /s/ - /θ/) 1 sank – thank 3 sawn – thorn 5 face – faith 2 sin – thin 4 sigh – thigh 7 force – fourth 9 ensues – enthuse 6 mouse – mouth 8 useful – youthful 10 wits – width1 1either pronounced /wɪtθ/ or /wɪdθ/
Potentially Embarrassing Mix-Ups (minimal pairs in the order /s/ - /θ/) 1 song - ! thong
Words with /s/ and /θ/ south, thanks, something, sympathetic, Catholicism, enthusiastic, seventeenth, sixteenth, thrusts
Phrases (minimal pairs – not necessarily in the order /s/ - /θ/)
1 I sawit thaw 3 Xmas in Exmouth /’ԑksməs ɪn ‘ԑksməθ/
2 pass the path 4 thimble with a cymbal on /θɪmbəl wɪð ə sɪmbəl ɒn/
5 it’s unthinkable that it’s unsinkable
6 the frost looked like frothed milk
Sentences (minimal pairs – not necessarily in the order /s/ - /θ/)
1 My niece lost her purse underneath a table in Perth. 2 I thought it was worth sorting out the better from the worse. 3 It seems some of the thumbnail pictures share a common theme. 4 The disclosure of the truth led to a tense truce for the tenth time. 5 I think this thick sauce is sickening so I’m pouring it down the sink. 6 Miss Jackson studied “Ethics in Norse Myths” in north Essex.
