Vowels: other u sound /ʊ/

Listen to the other u sound

How to pronounce the other u sound

To create the other u sound, the back of the tongue is raised to a mid-high position. The sides of the tongue may touch the top teeth toward the back of the mouth. The jaw is slightly closed and the lips are pulled into a loose circle.

---

Common other u spellings

spelling	example		other pronunciations for spelling
oo	good look book		oo sound (soon)
-u- (CVC)[1]	put full sugar		short u (just)
-ure[2]	pure cure insure		schwa+r (nature)

[1] u spelling followed by the letter r
When the consonant following the letter u is the letter r (as in the words blur and fur), the sound is usually pronounced as the schwa+r instead of the other u sound followed by the r sound.

[2] ure spelling
The ure spelling is only common when it occurs are the end of a word on a stressed syllable. On an unstressed syllable, the schwa+r pronunciation is more common (as in the words closure and adventure).

---

The other u sound in suffixes

none

---

Non-phonetic other u words
The other u sound is underlined in the following words:
could should would woman

---

Pronuncian Lessons

  

Click here to join Pronuncian for full online access to all exercises and quizzes for this lesson.

Top-Ranked Lessons

long e sound /i/

Compare long a/long e/long i

Introduction to Approximant Sounds

l sound /l/

velar l sound /ɫ/

Introduction to Stops

t sound /t/

b sound /b/

g sound /ɡ/

k sound /k/

Letter x Pronunciation: k+s or g+z

Join Pronuncian
Products
Forums
Services
Podcasts
Advertise
FAQ