lack · luck The difference in meaning and sound
What they mean
Lack means not having enough of something: "a lack of sleep", "she lacks experience". Luck is chance, good or bad: "good luck", "just my luck", "we were lucky".
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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 k at the end cuts both vowels short, so length helps less here than in pairs like bag and bug. Listen to the color instead: lack is bright and flat, with a touch of the e in bet, and luck is a dull, short "uh".
In British voices, the a of lack is more open and drifts toward the u of luck, which makes those voices the hardest test. Get the American voices right first.
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
Hearing hat and hut apart: all 18 pairs →This collection is free in the app
In the TellApart app, all 18 pairs in this collection are free to practice, with no purchase.
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