IELTS Pronunciation Practice: Short e /e/ versus /æ/

Technique

How to say it

1
For /e/, open your mouth moderately with slightly spread lips and raise the front of your tongue to mid-height.
2
For /æ/, lower your jaw noticeably further, widening your mouth and keeping the tongue flat and low in the front.
3
Ensure both sounds remain short and crisp rather than drawn out or diphthongised.
4
Practise shifting between both vowels while observing in a mirror that your jaw drops lower on /æ/ than on /e/.

7 pairs

Minimal pairs

Say each pair aloud. If the two words sound the same when you record yourself, slow down and go back to the steps above.

bed/bad
pen/pan
men/man
send/sand
head/had
mess/mass
lend/land

12 sentences

Practice lines from IELTS-style answers

1
I spent my last holiday camping in a very wet tent.
/e/ in spent, wet, tent vs /æ/ in camping
2
To be honest, heavy traffic jams make me feel quite stressed.
/e/ in heavy, stressed vs /æ/ in traffic, jams
3
My flat has a compact kitchen with several modern appliances.
/æ/ in flat, compact vs /e/ in several
4
I had to send an email to confirm my holiday travel plans.
/æ/ in had, travel, plans vs /e/ in send
5
Many young men prefer renting flats in busy capital cities.
/e/ in many, men, renting vs /æ/ in flats, capital
6
Plastic bags often end up causing immense damage to river banks.
/æ/ in plastic, bags, damage, banks vs /e/ in end
7
He left his black leather jacket on the back seat of the car.
/e/ in left, leather vs /æ/ in black, jacket, back
8
I set an early alarm because I had a difficult maths test.
/e/ in set, test vs /æ/ in had, maths
9
The best aspect of my current job is planning new projects.
/e/ in best vs /æ/ in aspect, planning
10
She read a quick text message about the family gathering.
/e/ in read, text, message vs /æ/ in family, gathering
11
Local banks need to protect customer data from clever hackers.
/æ/ in banks, hackers vs /e/ in clever
12
I went back to the art exhibition after a short rest.
/e/ in went, rest vs /æ/ in back

Say it in a real answer

Record an IELTS Speaking answer and get a Pronunciation band from the AI examiner, with the exact words that were hard to understand.

Watch out

Common mistakes

→Not dropping the jaw sufficiently for /æ/, which causes words like 'man' and 'bad' to sound like 'men' and 'bed'.
→Lengthening /æ/ into an /ɑː/ sound, which inadvertently turns words like 'cat' into 'cart'.
→Pronouncing the vowel /e/ with rounded lips, which distorts it towards an /ɜː/ or /ʊ/ sound.

In the exam: When talking about your background or daily routine, be careful with high-frequency minimal pairs such as 'had' versus 'head' and 'man' versus 'men' so the examiner never misunderstands your meaning.

Frequently asked questions

How much does pronunciation count in IELTS Speaking?+

A quarter of your Speaking band. Examiners judge how easy you are to understand and how well you use features like stress, rhythm and intonation, not whether you sound British or American.

Do I need a native accent for Band 8?+

No. An accent is fine at every band. What matters is that individual sounds are clear, stress falls on the right syllables and your intonation helps the listener follow you.

How should I practise these lines?+

Read each line slowly, then at natural speed, then record yourself and compare. Say the sentences in a real answer next, because examiners hear your pronunciation while you think, not while you read.

Keep practising

More vowel sounds practice

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