Minimal Pair final /dʒ/ and /dʒi/*
as in edge and edgy
Below is a list of words that vary only by one ending with the sound /dʒ/ and the other having the additional sound /i/ and so ending with the syllable /dʒi/.
You can use this to practise the sounds or as a list of words to be careful to pronounce properly.
You can practise ending the words below with consonant sound by building up the pronunciation of the word one sound at a time from the final one, e.g. “ge” then “nge”, “ange” and “range”, until you end up with “orange”. Concentrating very hard on getting the right number of syllables can also help.
Elementary / Pre-Intermediate
beige beigy
edge edgy
orange orangy
sponge spongy
village villagey
Intermediate
cage cagey
hedge hedgy
range rangy
stage stagy
Upper-Intermediate
budge budgie
dodge dodgy
fudge fudgy
grunge grungy
Advanced
barge bargy
bilge bilgy
bulge bulgy
dinge dingy
dirge dirgy
kludge kludgy
minge mingy
podge podgy
sludge sludgy
smudge smudgy
splodge splodgy
stodge stodgy
wedge wedgie
whinge whingey
*Note that this pair may not be considered a true minimal pair by the strictest definition.