The difference in the pronunciation of "cat" and "cut"
I know that there is a difference in the pronuntiation of "cat" and cut": cat [kæt] and cut [k?t]. However, from my point of view, they sound the same. I mean, like an "a". Do you know how to explain the difference between them?. Thank you.
8 Answers
I'm interested in this question too. To my Spanish ear seems like if the ? were shorter than æ. But let's wait for the natives' oppinion!!
I can understand your confusion Nila because I have just written two words in the translator and pressed the button to make the machine pronounce the words and then analysed the results as a native speaker of English.
cat: this was clear and reasonably accurate
cut: this sounded more like gut than cut
I then entered the same words into the dictionary and the word cut was pronunced a little more clearly. more like cut than gut
Some English people, like others who speak different langauges open their mouths properly (correctly) when they speak and you will understand them more easily and others will appear lazy so the sounds will not be clear or distinctive.
The a sound in cat is made when people open their mouth wide... like the a in abrir
The u sound is made when the mouth is open about half way (creates a shape like an oval/egg shape)
I hope this helps 
Nila, I think that depends a lot on where the speaker is from. I find that the difference in prounciation is clearer in some regional accents than in others.
The way I think about it, the sound in "cat" is closer to a short E (casi como "ket"), whereas "cut" is closer to O (casi como "kot").
Then again, my English accent is closer to the US East Coast.
There have been some really helpful answers here. As mentioned above, perhaps listening to someone with a different accent pronounce "cut" and "cat" would help mark the difference.
Maybe you would notice the difference more in a Scottish accent. I hope this is helpful for you. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hbfqtCnneI
Well, I am working hard to guess this. Look at this, cat and cut
I don't know if this will help, but native speakers of English learn the differences as children by reading books with small words.
Other words that have the same vowel sound as cat:
hat bat that pat
Other words with the same vowel sound as cut:
up but cup
It's silly, but the Cat in the Hat cartoons (and books for practice), might help you.
Click here for link.
Hmm, to me it has always been a clear difference:
cut (como en casino, en español)
cat ( como en que dices...la palabra que dicho con rapidez, algo similar, no tenemos en realidad este sonido en español)
Para mi gusto el mejor pronunciador en la web lo tiene wordreference, es gente "real" que ha pronounciado las palabras, hay dos personas pronunciándolas, de Estados Unidos y de Inglaterra:
Pienso que en la palabra cut pronunciada por el americano, se oye una clara "a".
Nila
In the word "cut" the "u" is pronounced like the Spanish "a" in English English but it sounds very similar to the "cat" pronunciation when listened to in our dictionary.
That is because it is an Amercan pronunciaton.
I can hear these differences very easily.
I don't think there is a sound in Spanish for the "a" in "cat"
but it sounds like the "a" in hat - bat - sat - that etc
My students often have problems hearing such differences.
