eat / heat
French and Italian speakers often forget to say the /h/ where it should be said:
I hope to hear from Hannah soon becomes I 'ope to 'ear from 'annah soon.
Sometimes people even 'over-compensate' and say the /h/ sound where it doesn't exist:
Are there any problems? becomes Hare there hany problems?
It's confusing because there are some words in English that do indeed start with a silent 'h':
hour, honest and honour being the most useful. However, there are very few of these, so if you're not sure, just pronounce the 'h' when you see it and you'll be correct most of the time!
Minimal Pairs
eat /iːt/ - heat /hiːt/
Eid /iːd/ - heed /hiːd/
Eve /iːv/ - heave /hiːv/
eel /iːl/ - heel, heal /hiːl/
it /ɪt/ - hit /hɪt/
is /ɪz/ - his /hɪz/
itch /ɪtʃ/ - hitch /hɪtʃ/
ill /ɪl/ - hill /hɪl/
Ed /ed/ - head /hed/
edge /edʒ/ - hedge /hedʒ/
Em /em/ - hem /hem/
L /el/ - hell /hel/
at /æt/ - hat /hæt/ (at is often pronounced with the schwa)
add /æd/ - had /hæd/ (had is often pronounced with the schwa)
as /æz/ - has /hæz/ (as and has are often pronounced with the schwa)
ash /æʃ/ - hash /hæʃ/
am /æm/ - ham /hæm/
earl /ɜːl/ - hurl /hɜːl/
art /ɑːt/ - heart /hɑːt/
arm /ɑːm/ - harm /hɑːm/
all /ɔːl/ - hall /hɔːl/
or /ɔː/ - whore /hɔː/ (offensive)
op /ɒp/ - hop /hɒp/
A /eɪ/ - hey, hay /heɪ/
N.B. When referring to the letter of the alphabet, A is always said as /eɪ/:
The first letter of the alphabet is the letter A
but when used as an indefinite article, it is usually said as /ə/:
That's a wonderful idea!
ate /eɪt/ - hate /heɪt/
ache /eɪk/ - hake /heɪk/
ale, ail /eɪl/ - hale, hail /heɪl/
I, eye /aɪ/ - hi, high /haɪ/
I'd /aɪd/ - hide /haɪd/
own /əʊn/ - hone /həʊn/
ow /aʊ/ - how /haʊ/
owl /aʊl/ - howl /haʊl/
ear /ɪə/ - hear /hɪə/
air, heir /eə/ - hair /heə/