Initial Consonant Contrasts
/p/ vs /b/

• pit - bit
  Dig a pit - Take a bit
• pat - bat
  Give a pat - Swing the bat
• pig - big
  See the pig - It's big

/t/ vs /d/

• time - dime
  What time? - Find a dime
• tear - dear
  Don't tear it - My dear
• town - down
  Go to town - Sit down

/k/ vs /g/

• coat - goat
  Wear your coat - Feed the goat
• cold - gold
  I feel cold - She has gold
• crow - grow
  Hear the crow - Plants grow

/f/ vs /v/

• fine - vine
  I'm fine - Grapes on the vine
• fan - van
  Turn on the fan - Drive the van
• ferry - very
  Ride the ferry - It's very hot

/s/ vs /z/

• sink - zinc
  Wash in the sink - Zinc is a metal
• sue - zoo
  Don't sue me - Visit the zoo
• seal - zeal
  See the seal - Work with zeal

/ʃ/ vs /ʒ/

• pressure - pleasure
  Under pressure - It's a pleasure
• dilution - delusion
  Water dilution - It's a delusion

Final Consonant Contrasts
/t/ vs /d/

• bet - bed
  Make a bet - Sleep in bed
• hat - had
  Wear a hat - I had fun
• seat - seed
  Take a seat - Plant a seed

/k/ vs /g/

• back - bag
  My back hurts - Carry a bag
• pick - pig
  Pick one - See the pig
• duck - dug
  Feed the duck - He dug deep

/f/ vs /v/

• leaf - leave
  A green leaf - Time to leave
• half - halve
  Eat half - Halve the apple
• proof - prove
  Show proof - Prove it

/s/ vs /z/

• bus - buzz
  Ride the bus - Hear the buzz
• peace - peas
  World peace - Eat your peas
• race - raise
  Win the race - Raise your hand

Vowel Contrasts
/ɪ/ vs /iː/

• sit - seat
  Sit here - Take a seat
• bit - beat
  Just a bit - Beat the drum
• lick - leak
  The dog will lick - Fix the leak

/æ/ vs /ʌ/

• bat - but
  Use the bat - I want to but can't
• cat - cut
  Pet the cat - Cut the paper
• ran - run
  She ran fast - Let's run

/ɑː/ vs /ɔː/

• calm - call
  Stay calm - Make a call
• father - farther
  My father - It's farther
• park - pork
  Play in the park - Eat pork

/ʊ/ vs /uː/

• full - fool
  I'm full - Don't be a fool
• pull - pool
  Pull the rope - Swim in the pool
• look - Luke
  Look here - His name is Luke

Consonant Cluster Contrasts
/s/ vs /st/

• sing - sting
  Let's sing - Beware the sting
• sink - stink
  Wash in the sink - That stinks
• sail - stale
  The boat will sail - The bread is stale

/l/ vs /r/

• light - right
  Turn on the light - Turn right
• long - wrong
  It's long - That's wrong
• lead - read
  Lead the way - Read this

/n/ vs /ŋ/

• sin - sing
  Don't sin - Let's sing
• ran - rang
  She ran - The bell rang
• ton - tongue
  A ton of weight - Stick out your tongue

Other Important Contrasts
/θ/ vs /ð/

• thigh - thy
  My thigh hurts - Thy kingdom
• ether - either
  Chemical ether - Choose either
• teeth - teethe
  Brush your teeth - Babies teethe

/θ/ vs /s/

• thank - sank
  Say thank you - The boat sank
• thin - sin
  She's thin - That's a sin
• thought - sought
  I thought so - We sought help

/θ/ vs /f/

• three - free
  Count to three - It's free
• thought - fought
  I thought - They fought
• thumb - fum
  Suck your thumb - Don't fumigate

/w/ vs /v/

• west - vest
  Go west - Wear a vest
• wine - vine
  Drink wine - Grapes on the vine
• worse - verse
  It got worse - Sing a verse

R-Colored Vowel Contrasts
/ɜːr/ vs /ɔːr/

• bird - bored
  See the bird - I'm bored
• hurt - court
  Did it hurt? - Go to court
• fern - fawn
  Water the fern - See the fawn

/ɪr/ vs /ɛr/

• mirror - merrier
  Look in the mirror - The more the merrier
• spirit - spear it
  Show spirit - Spear it carefully