Unit 2: Pizza for dinner /iː/ and /ɪ/

A. How to make the sound /iː/

/iː/ is a long sound. Look at the diagram. Listen and then say the sound. Make your mouth wide, like a smile. Your tongue touches the sides of your teeth. Target sound: /iː/

B. Sound and spelling

/iː/ is usually spelled ee or ea. Listen and say these words:

• see /siː/
• agree /əˈɡriː/
• eat /iːt/
• sea /siː/
• team /tiːm/

Listen and say these other words with /iː/:

• field /fiːld/
• piece /piːs/
• these /ðiːz/
• metre /ˈmiːtə(r)/
• secret /ˈsiːkrət/
• evening /ˈiːvnɪŋ/
• equal /ˈiːkwəl/
• Peter /ˈpiːtə(r)/
• museum /mjuˈziːəm/
• European /ˌjʊərəˈpiːən/
• Chinese /ˌtʃaɪˈniːz/
• Japanese /ˌdʒæpəˈniːz/
• complete /kəmˈpliːt/
• ski /kiː/
• kilo /ˈkiːləʊ/
• tire /ˈliːtə(r)/
• pizza /ˈpiːtsə/
• police /pəˈliːs/
• machine /məˈʃiːn/
• magazine /ˌmæɡəˈziːn/
• people /ˈpiːpl/

Now listen and say these sentences:

1. Can you see the sea? /kæn juː siː ðə siː/
2. A piece of pizza, please. /ə piːs əv ˈpiːtsə pliːz/
3. Peter’s in the team. /ˈpiːtəz ɪn ðə tiːm/
4. A kilo of peaches and a litre of cream. /ə ˈkiːləʊ əv ˈpiːtʃɪz ənd ə ˈliːtər əv kriːm/
5. Please can you teach me to speak Portuguese? /pliːz kən juː tiːtʃ miː tə spiːk ˌpɔːtʃʊˈɡiːz/

C. How to make the sound /ɪ/

/ɪ/ is a short sound. Look at the diagram. Listen and then say the sound. Make your mouth a bit less wide than for /iː/. Your tongue is a bit further back in your mouth than for /iː/. Target sound: /ɪ/

D. Sound and spelling

/ɪ/ is usually spelled i. Listen and say these words:

• list /lɪst/
• listen /ˈlɪsn/
• miss /mɪs/
• dinner /ˈdɪnər/
• swim /swɪm/

Listen and say these other words with /ɪ/:

• busy /ˈbɪzi/
• business /ˈbɪznəs/
• building /ˈbɪldɪŋ/
• system /ˈsɪstəm/

Now listen and say these phrases:

1. fifty-six /ˌfɪfti ˈsɪks/
2. dinner in the kitchen /ˈdɪnər ɪn ðə ˈkɪtʃɪn/
3. a cinema ticket /ə ˈsɪnəmə ˈtɪkɪt/
4. a picture of a building /ə ˈpɪktʃər əv ə ˈbɪldɪŋ/
5. big business /bɪɡ ˈbɪznəs/

Note: Eight letters of the alphabet have the sound /iː/. Listen and repeat: B, C, D, E, G, P, T, V.