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 f is only breath, so the L or R is the first voiced sound in the word. In fry, the lips round as they leave the f, and the "ai" starts dark, a little like f-w-ai. In fly, the tongue tip lets go at once, and the "ai" starts bright and clear.
After that first instant, both words share the same long "ai" glide. Don't wait for the end, because by then the two sound alike: listen to the start, and try Slow if it goes by too fast.
Studies: Logan et al. 1991 · Lively et al. 1993 · Lively et al. 1994 · Bradlow et al. 1997 · Bradlow et al. 1999
R has a darker, rounded ring. L sounds lighter and clearer.
More word pairs with these sounds
- play · pray
- flesh · fresh
- light · right
- long · wrong
- cloud · crowd
- glass · grass
- collect · correct
- clown · crown
Start hearing the difference.
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