Ship or sheep? How to say /ɪ/ and /iː/

English has two different vowels in ship and sheep. If you say both with the same vowel, listeners can hear sheep when you meant ship, or the other way round.

The two sounds

SoundExample wordsHow to make it
/ɪ/ (short, relaxed)ship /ʃɪp/, sit /sɪt/, lip /lɪp/Keep your lips and tongue relaxed. Your mouth is slightly more open.
/iː/ (tense, longer)sheep /ʃiːp/, seat /siːt/, leap /liːp/Spread your lips a little, as in a small smile, and raise your tongue high and forward.

IPA is shown for General American English. Other accents sound different, and that is normal.

It is not only about length

Many teachers say "short" and "long", and /iː/ is often longer. But length changes with the sounds around it. The /iː/ in bead is longer than the /iː/ in beat, because a vowel is longer before a voiced consonant such as /d/ than before a voiceless one such as /t/. So do not rely on length alone. Listen for the difference in the vowel itself: tense and high for sheep, relaxed for ship.

Common mistakes

  • Using /iː/ for both. Sit sounds like seat.
  • Using /ɪ/ for both. Seat sounds like sit, and leap like lip.
  • Only making /ɪ/ shorter. If the vowel quality stays the same, the pair can still sound alike.

Practise saying these pairs

Say each pair slowly. Check that your mouth and tongue change between the two words.

/ɪ//iː/
ship /ʃɪp/sheep /ʃiːp/
bit /bɪt/beat /biːt/
sit /sɪt/seat /siːt/
hill /hɪl/heel /hiːl/
fill /fɪl/feel /fiːl/
lip /lɪp/leap /liːp/
Practise hearing the difference

For another vowel pair with a short video lesson, read Bottle or battle?

Follow the short pronunciation units, then choose and hear each reply in a capstone conversation.