hill · hell

hill /hɪl/ vs hell /hɛl/ — short /ɪ/ (tongue high) vs short /ɛ/ (tongue lower). One vowel apart.

One vowel apart — and the gap is small. hill has short /ɪ/ — tongue is high, jaw barely moves. hell has short /ɛ/ — tongue drops slightly lower, mouth opens a little more. Mixing them up can cause awkward confusion!

⠿ reorder

A grassy hill rising above the countryside

noun — a raised area of land — 'up the hill' · 'a hill walk' · 'downhill'

mouth shape

short /ɪ/ — tongue HIGH, jaw barely open — lips relaxed — like 'bit', 'sit', 'fill'

hill

/hɪl/

vowel length

short /ɪ/

⠿ reorder

Flames representing hell — a place of fire and punishment

noun — a place of fire and punishment in religious belief — also used informally: 'what the hell?'

mouth shape

short /ɛ/ — tongue LOWER than /ɪ/, jaw drops slightly — like 'bed', 'set', 'fell'

hell

/hɛl/

vowel length

short /ɛ/

Key difference

hill /ɪ/: tongue is high — jaw barely drops — like bit, fill. hell /ɛ/: tongue drops a little — jaw opens slightly more — like bed, fell. Put your finger under your chin — it drops more for hell than for hill.

Example sentences

hill:“We climbed the hill and saw the whole valley below.”

hill:“The road goes downhill after the village.”

hell:“It was hell trying to park in the city centre.”

hell:“What the hell is going on?”

Hear it in a sentence

“The old castle sat on a hill overlooking the entire town below.”

“The commute in the August heat was absolute hell.”

Hear it in the wild

Real speech from native speakers — the most reliable way to check a pronunciation, since automated audio can vary by device and browser.

YouGlish↗

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