Lesson 6: Rhymes and Minimal Pairs

🟦 Introduction

Have you ever played rhyming games or noticed how some English words sound nearly the same except for one part? In this lesson, you’ll learn how to recognize and work with rhymes and minimal pairs, which are essential for speaking clearly and scoring well in WASSCE Oral English Paper 3.

You’ll explore:

• How to detect words that rhyme

• How to identify and pronounce minimal pairs

• How these skills are tested in the exam

🟩 Key Concepts and Explanations

1. What Are Rhymes?

Rhyming words have the same ending sound from the last stressed syllable onward.

✅ Examples:

• light, night, sight → all end in /aɪt/

• game, name, same → all end in /eɪm/

✅ Important: Rhymes are about sound, not spelling.

• through and blue rhyme → /ruː/ and /bluː/

• cough and rough don’t rhyme even though they look similar → /kɒf/ vs /rʌf/

2. How Rhymes Are Tested in WASSCE

You’ll hear a list of words and must choose:

• Which one rhymes with a target word

• Which one does not rhyme

• A group of words that share the same final sound

✅ Example

Which of the following rhymes with fight?
A. light B. fit C. feet D. fat
👉 Answer: A. light → /laɪt/

3. What Are Minimal Pairs?

A minimal pair is a set of two words that differ in only one sound—either a vowel or a consonant.

✅ Examples:

• ship /ʃɪp/ vs sheep /ʃiːp/ → one vowel sound difference

• fan /fæn/ vs van /væn/ → one consonant difference

• bat /bæt/ vs pat /pæt/ → /b/ vs /p/

Learning minimal pairs helps:

• Improve your pronunciation

• Train your listening for sound contrasts

• Avoid confusion between similar words

4. Common Minimal Pairs to Master

🧭 Step-by-Step Sample Walkthrough

Question 1 (Rhyming):
Which word rhymes with paid?
A. said
B. made
C. pad
D. laid

Step 1: Check pronunciation

• paid → /peɪd/

• said → /sed/

• made → /meɪd/

• pad → /pæd/

• laid → /leɪd/

Step 2: Compare endings
✅ Rhyming words: paid, made, laid

Correct Answer: B. made or D. laid (either is acceptable if instructions ask for “a word that rhymes”)

Question 2 (Minimal Pair):
Which of these forms a minimal pair with fan?
A. fun
B. fat
C. van
D. fin

Step 1: Compare each sound

• fan /fæn/ vs fun /fʌn/ → vowel difference

• fan vs fat /fæt/ → vowel difference

• fan vs van /væn/ → /f/ vs /v/ ✅

• fan vs fin /fɪn/ → vowel difference

Correct Answer: C. van

🟨 Practice Exercises

Exercise A: Rhyming Word Match

Choose the word that rhymes with the first word in each group:

1. night:
   A. kit
   B. bite
   C. neat
   D. height
   👉 Answer: B. bite

2. more:
   A. bore
   B. moor
   C. war
   D. door
   👉 Answer: A. bore

3. said:
   A. head
   B. laid
   C. bead
   D. sad
   👉 Answer: A. head

Exercise B: Minimal Pair Detection

Pick the pair that forms a minimal pair:

A. hit / heat
B. pin / bin
C. pot / pet
D. luck / look
👉 Answer: B. pin / bin → /p/ vs /b/

A. fan / fat
B. ship / chip
C. gun / gone
D. net / neat
👉 Answer: B. ship / chip → /ʃ/ vs /tʃ/

Exercise C: Spot the Odd One Out (Rhymes)

Which word does NOT rhyme with the others?

A. late
B. fate
C. seat
D. gate
👉 Answer: C. seat → /iːt/, others /eɪt/

A. coal
B. hole
C. doll
D. goal
👉 Answer: C. doll → /dɒl/, others /əʊl/

🔁 Recap

In this lesson, you learned:

• Rhymes are words that share the same final sound, even if they are spelled differently

• Minimal pairs differ by only one sound—perfect for training your ear and mouth

• These are commonly tested in WASSCE through listening tasks and sound comparison items

🪞Reflection Prompt

Pick 5 minimal pairs (e.g. ship/sheep, bat/pat, fan/van) and record yourself saying each pair aloud. Can you clearly hear the difference? Ask a friend or teacher to test your pronunciation. Which pair do you find the hardest?