How to tell /e/ and /æ/ apart
/e/ is shorter and more closed, while /æ/ is more open and wider.
/e/
Short E
pen /pen/
A short front vowel sound. The mouth is slightly open and the tongue is in the front-middle position.
Common mistake: Learners may confuse /e/ with /æ/, making pen sound like pan.
/æ/
Short A
pan /pæn/
A short front vowel sound with a wider open mouth. The tongue is low and forward.
Common mistake: Learners may not open the mouth enough, making pan sound like pen.
- •/e/ sounds like the vowel in pen, bed, men.
- •/æ/ sounds like the vowel in pan, bad, man.
- •For /æ/, open your mouth wider than /e/.
- •Make sure the two words in each pair sound clearly different.
Minimal pairs
pen/pen/
pan/pæn/
bed/bed/
bad/bæd/
men/men/
man/mæn/
head/hed/
had/hæd/