the harder ones to distinguish are the words fool and full. Especially since they are pronounced differently in different regions. The way I pronounce them, you can actually hear a difference in the words. The word fool has a dipthong and the word full does not. A dipthong is two syllables combined to form one. For example the word say; the sound 'seh' is combined with "ee". So, when you sound out the word, you don't pronounce it seh-ee with 2 syllables but rather 'say' with one syllable. Fool is formed with the sounds foo and uhl, instead of two syllables foo-uhl, you pronounce it in one, fool. Full is pronounced with a single syllable, fuhl. almost like the word fun, but with an l at the end instead of an n. The other words are easier to distinguish. shot is pronounced sh(aw)t. To hear the sound, just make a list of as many rhyming words that you can think of. You will soon be able to distinguish it easily. shot, got, lot, rot, cot, snot, fought, bought, sought, hot, not, pot, dot, knot. short is pronounced sh(oh)rt. short, sort, port, fort, tort, wart doll is pronounced d(aw)l doll, fall, stall, tall, hall, call, mall, pall, ball, gall, wall, crawl, small door is pronounced d(oh)r door, four, bore, hoar, more, shore, core, tore, roar, snore, pore, chore, store I hope this helps you.

1) /u/ and /ʊ/ vowels fool > /ful/ full > /fʊl/ Here's a video on the difference between 'fool' and 'full': www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qms8b6vKBs 2) /ɑ/ and /ɔ/ vowels Notice that 'shot' and 'doll' have the same vowel sound /ɑ/, while 'short' and 'door' have the same vowel sound /ɔ/. shot > /ʃɑ:t/ short > /ʃɔ:rt/ doll > /dɑ:l/ door > /dɔ:r/ Here's a video on the difference between /ɑ/ and /ɔ/: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNYfubkRWbI

Full and full may be difficult because many English speakers will pronounce them the same even though they shouldn't be. You should be able to tell from the context though. Shot and short sound nothing alike. Shot has a short o like pot and short is like the o in or. Again, the context should make it clearer.

Here's another example: To = refers to where the subject or direct object is going or heading Too = refers to a person or object sharing the same predicament or receiving the same action Two = the number 2