1 / 5
A developer says: "We ship a new version every two weeks." ship ?
A /iː/ — a long "ee" sound, like in "sheep" or "feet" — "sheeeep" B /ɪ/ — a short, relaxed "i" sound, like in "bit" or "sit" — tongue relaxed C /eɪ/ — a diphthong, like in "say" or "day" D /ɛ/ — a short "e" sound, like in "bed" or "set"
ship — /ʃɪp/ — short /ɪ/ vowel: The key to the /ɪ/ vs /iː/ distinction is
tension and length :
/ɪ/ (short i) — tongue is relaxed, mid-high in the mouth. Short and "lax". Like in: bit, sit, ship, list, fix/iː/ (long ee) — tongue is tense and high. Long and "tense". Like in: beat, seat, sheep, release, featureIT minimal pairs — /ɪ/ vs /iː/: /ɪ/ (short) /iː/ (long) ship — "we ship code"sheep — unrelated in ITbit — "1 bit flag"beat — "heartbeat check"fix — "hotfix"fees — "API fees"list — "mailing list"least — "at least"git — "git commit"greet — "greeting message"
Practice: Say these words aloud: "We ship fixes to the git repository" — all the i-sounds are short /ɪ/.
Next →
2 / 5
A developer describes their team: "We have a full-stack developer on the team." stack ?
A /eɪ/ — a long diphthong, like in "steak" or "make" or "bake" B /æ/ — a short, open "a" sound, tongue low and spread, like in "cat" or "man" C /ɑː/ — a long open "ah" sound, like in "car" or "father" D /ʌ/ — a mid-central sound, like in "cut" or "bug"
stack — /stæk/ — short /æ/ vowel: The /æ/ sound is one of the most distinctive sounds in English — it's the sound in "cat", "man", "black", "stack":
Tongue is low in the mouth, jaw drops open Lips spread slightly (like a flat smile) It's a short sound — quick, not drawn out IT words with /æ/: stack /stæk/ — "full-stack developer", "tech stack", "call stack"cache /kæʃ/ — "browser cache" (not /kæʃeɪ/!)batch /bætʃ/ — "batch processing"back /bæk/ — "backend", "backlog", "rollback"black /blæk/ — "blacklist" (now called "blocklist")/æ/ vs /eɪ/ confusion: Many non-native speakers mix up these sounds:
/æ/ (short, open) /eɪ/ (long, diphthong) stack /stæk/stake /steɪk/ — a stake in the projectback /bæk/bake /beɪk/cache /kæʃ/case /keɪs/ — "use case"
Next →
3 / 5
These IT words all share the same vowel sound: bug, slug, stub, plug .
A /ʊ/ — a short "oo" sound, like in "foot" or "put" — rounded lips B /uː/ — a long "oo" sound, like in "boot" or "loop" — the sound in "loop of code" C /ʌ/ — a mid-central sound, like in "cup" or "cut" — unrounded, relaxed D /ɒ/ — a short "o" sound, like in "log" or "box" — lips rounded
bug, slug, stub, plug — all use /ʌ/ — the "cup" vowel: The /ʌ/ sound is made with:
Tongue in the center of the mouth, mid-height Unrounded lips (not like "oo")Jaw slightly open, relaxed The /ʌ/ family in IT: Word IPA IT context bug /bʌɡ/ "fix the bug" slug /slʌɡ/ "URL slug" stub /stʌb/ "a function stub" plug /plʌɡ/ "plugin" run /rʌn/ "npm run build" dump /dʌmp/ "memory dump"
Don't confuse with /uː/: "loop" /luːp/, "tool" /tuːl/, "root" /ruːt/ all have the long /uː/ — more rounded and longer than /ʌ/.
Next →
4 / 5
A sysadmin says: "Check the server log for errors." log ?
A /oʊ/ — a diphthong, like in "logo" or "go" — starts mid, moves to rounded B /ɒ/ — a short, rounded "o" sound, like in "hot" or "box" — lips rounded, jaw open C /ɑː/ — a long open "ah" sound, like in "car" (British) — very open, no rounding D /ɔː/ — a long "aw" sound, like in "law" or "caught"
log — /lɒɡ/ — British short /ɒ/ vowel: British English has a distinct short /ɒ/ sound (sometimes called the "LOT vowel") that American English doesn't have:
British /ɒ/: Lips are rounded , jaw is open, tongue is low — "log" /lɒɡ/, "hot" /hɒt/, "box" /bɒks/American equivalent: The same words use /ɑː/ (unrounded) or /ɔː/ — "log" /lɑːɡ/ or /lɔːɡ/ in American EnglishIT words with British /ɒ/: log /lɒɡ/ — "server log", "log file", "logging"pod /pɒd/ — "Kubernetes pod"job /dʒɒb/ — "cron job", "batch job"mock /mɒk/ — "mock object", "mocking"box /bɒks/ — "sandbox", "checkbox"British /ɒ/ vs /oʊ/: /ɒ/ (British short) /oʊ/ (long diphthong) log — "read the log"logo — "company logo"pod — "k8s pod"code — "source code"mock — "mock test"mode — "dark mode"
Next →
5 / 5
A developer says: "We need to keep a record of all transactions." record is a noun. Where is the stress?
A /rɪˈkɔːrd/ — "re-CORD" — stress on the second syllable B /ˈrekərd/ — "REK-ord" — stress on the first syllable C Both syllables are stressed equally: "REK-CORD" D /rɪˈkɔːd/ — same as the verb, stress on second syllable
record (noun) — /ˈrekərd/ — "REK-ord": This is the classic English noun/verb stress shift:
Noun /ˈrekərd/ — "REK-ord": "a record of events", "keep a record", "transaction record"Verb /rɪˈkɔːrd/ — "re-CORD": "to record data", "record the session", "recording the meeting"This stress shift is very consistent in English. It also helps explain some vowel reduction — the unstressed syllable often becomes a schwa /ə/:
"REK-
ə rd" (noun) — the second syllable is reduced
"r
ɪ -CORD" (verb) — the first syllable is reduced
The noun/verb stress shift pattern — IT examples: Noun (1st syllable) Verb (2nd syllable) REK -ord — "a RECord"re-CORD — "to reCORD" EX -port — "an EXport"ex-PORT — "to exPORT" IM -port — "an IMport"im-PORT — "to imPORT" UP -date — "the UPdate"up-DATE — "to upDATE"
See results