TREE or THREE? English pronunciation listening practice training with minimal pair audio examples
What is the difference between the pronunciation of the English words "tree" and "three" (/tɹi/ and r /θɹi/)? This video helps you to practice hearing the difference more clearly with an activity using many audio examples of these minimal pairs.
Many English learners have difficulty hearing and producing the consonant sound /θ/ (written 'th' as in 'thin'). It does not exist in many languages. Additionally, many English learners also have difficulty with /ɹ/, the English "r" consonant sound, especially consonant clusters where it follows another consonant or consonants.
This activity is intended to help you hear the difference between the consonant clusters (/tɹ/) and (/θɹ/) more clearly using minimal pairs.
This video has many examples of the minimal pair words 'tree' (/tɹi/) and 'three' (/θɹi/) spoken with North American English pronuniciation. The only difference in the pronunciation of these words is the initial consonant sounds /t/ and /θ/ (written 'th' as in 'thin').
Listen to each word and decide if you are hearing the word 'tree', which starts with /t/, or 'tree', which starts with /θ/. Pause the video if you need more time. Each sample will play three times, and on the third time you will see the correct answer. See how many you can get right!
The /θ/ in "three" is a voiceless dental non-sibilant fricative, while the /t/ in "tree" is an aspirated voiceless alveolar stop.