Pale — choose the word that rhymes with the given word

Analyze the question: You need the word that rhymes with "pale". Rhyming words have the same vowel sound and ending sound. They often sound the same from the vowel onward.

Explain the concept: Rhyme depends on sound, not spelling. Use phonetic transcription to compare words.

Solution:

• Pale is /peɪl/, with the vowel sound "ay" (as in day) followed by /l/.
• A. pail is /peɪl/. It has the same vowel and the same ending, so it rhymes. (In fact, pale and pail are homophones.)
• B. palm is /pɑːm/. The vowel is "ah" and the ending is /m/, so it does not rhyme.
• C. mall is /mɔːl/ (or /mæl/ in some accents). The vowel is different, so it does not rhyme.
• D. haul is /hɔːl/. The vowel is "aw", so it does not rhyme.

Answer: The word that rhymes with pale is pail, option A.

Tip: Cover the first consonant and say the rest of each word aloud. "-ale" sounds like "-ail" (/eɪl/), but not like "-alm", "-all" or "-aul". In rhyme questions, trust your ears over the spelling, because words like pale and pail are spelled differently but sound the same.