Real clips from the app. Turn your sound on.
Hear both words in 10 voices
Each row is one speaker saying both words. Play one, then the other, and switch to slow when the difference hides.
- American woman, younger
- American woman, older
- American man, younger
- American man, older
- British woman, younger
- British woman, older
- British man, younger
- British man, older
- Australian woman
- Australian man
What's different
The small っ in バッター suggests a longer t, but English makes no such difference: the t is the same in both words. American voices, and often Australian ones, turn it into a quick tap of the tongue, close to a d, or to the Japanese ら. British voices usually keep a crisp t in both.
So listen to the first vowel. Batter opens wide and bright, the a of cat, and lasts a little longer. Butter is short and relaxed, the "uh" of cup, said with the jaw only half open. The weak "er" at the end is the same in both.
Studies: Lambacher et al. 2002 · Lambacher et al. 2005 · Nishi & Kewley-Port 2007
æ (hat) is wide and bright. ʌ (hut) is short and relaxed.
More word pairs with these sounds
- hang · hung
- staff · stuff
- crash · crush
- fan · fun
- track · truck
- sang · sung
- ran · run
- lack · luck
- ankle · uncle
- cap · cup
This collection is free in the app
In the TellApart app, all 18 pairs in this collection are free to practice, with no purchase.
Start hearing the difference.
Free to download, with one purchase to unlock everything. No subscription.