English Sounds & Spelling: English Sounds and Spelling (#9)

The / e / and / ae /sounds (the vowel sounds in bet and
bat) are similar in pronunciation: both are made with the
tongue toward the middle of the mouth, but / e / is more
forward and has a higher tongue position than / ae /.
To many learners of English, / e / and / ae / sound very
similar or even the same. To a native speaker of English,
however, they sound completely different.

Here are some examples of words in which the use of
/ e / or / e / is the only difference in pronunciation: