In this American English pronunciation video, we´re going to go over the difference in the words "six" and "sex"
This minimal pair has only one differerent sound and it´s the vowel sound
Since "sex" can be a sensitive word, this is probably a minimal pair you want to master
Thanks so much for the suggestion
The two vwel sound are the "i" as in "sit" vowel and the "e" as in "bed" vowel
For the "e" vowel like in "sex" the jaw drops more
The tongue tip is forward and down, lightly touching the back of the bottom front teeth
The front middle part lifts towards the roof of the mouth and the middle of the tongue should be wider as it lifts
The "i" vowel like in "six" has less jaw drop.
The tip is in the same place , but the front part arches up, towards the roof of the mouth
The tongue is closer to the roof of the mouth in this vowel.
Let´s take a look at a picture comparing the two sounds
Notice how the jaw is more dropped for the "eh" vowel like in "sex"
The tongue is closer to the roof of the mouth for the "i" vowel like in "six"
Practice with me
Eh Ih Eh Ih
now let´s look at the two words up close and slowmotion
The corners of the mouth pull wide for the s
The jaw drops more for the eh in sex
The front part lifts towards the roof of the mouth for the ih vowel in six
Again from the front
Compare the jaw drop
Six
Sex
I hope this video has made the difference in these two words clear
If there´s a word comparison you´d like to see, put it in the comments below
Also I´m very excited to tell you that my book is now on sale
If you liked this video there´s a lot more to learn about american english pronunciation, and my book could help you step by step
You can get by clicking here or in the description below
That´s it and thanks so much for using Rachel´s English!
If you liked this video, be sure to suscribe, either click here or in the description
But don´t stop there!
Keep learning with my american english and real life playlist, my Ben Franklin playlist or my word of the week series
Click on me to check out my channel where there´s a hundred of great videos
Don´t forget to visit my website where you can learn about my premium membership and online courses