Minimal pair · Mexican Spanish; starter contrasts also occur widely elsewhere
Spanish /ˈσ.σ/ vs /σ.ˈσ/Hablo or habló?
Learn to hear the difference between ˈσ.σ and σ.ˈσ in Spanish words.
Practice these sounds/ˈσ.σ/
The ˈσ.σ category
Listen for the target sound in each word.
As inhablo
/σ.ˈσ/
The σ.ˈσ category
Listen for the target sound in each word.
As inhabló
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
A small change.
A different word.
Hablo/habló, canto/cantó and tomo/tomó use the same segment sequence. Moving stress changes the grammatical form and meaning.
Listen for the target sound in each word.
A common trap
Do not treat the accent mark as a decorative spelling difference. The listening target is prominence on a different syllable.
Sound examples
Tap to hear each wordhablo
/ˈablo/I speakcanto
/ˈkanto/I singtomo
/ˈtomo/I takepaso
/ˈpaso/I passmiro
/ˈmiɾo/I lookhabló
/aˈblo/he/she/you formal spokecantó
/kanˈto/he/she/you formal sangtomó
/toˈmo/he/she/you formal tookpasó
/paˈso/he/she passedmiró
/miˈɾo/he/she looked10 words. Words stay hidden during practice unless you choose to reveal them.