Pronuncian Lessons

Glide: w sound /w/

Listen to the w sound

How to pronounce the w sound The w sound is created with the jaw mostly closed and the lips formed in a small, tight circle. The sound is voiced, so the vocal cords must vibrate during the production of the sound. The w sound is very similar to the vowel oo sound. The only difference is that the lips are slightly more closed when making the w sound, and the w sound cannot create a syllable as a vowel sound can.

w sound illustration

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Common w sound spellings

spelling	example	audio	other pronunciations for spelling
w	win sweet rewind		none
wh[1]	when why while		h sound
qu[2]	quit quiet queen		none

NOTE: The letter w is often used as a part of a vowel sound spelling (such as the ow spelling in the words cow and snow). When it is part of a vowel spelling, the w sound may merge with the vowel sound and is no longer considered or pronounced as a distinct w sound. Instead, it forms a portion of the ow sound or long o sound, which are both two-sound vowels.

Generally speaking, the letter w will represent a w sound when it is:

1. at the beginning of a word (will)
2. immediately following another consonant (sweet)
3. the first letter of part of a compound word (homework)
4. the first letter after a prefix (rewind)

The wr spelling, as in the words write, wrap, and wrist is pronounced as an r sound, not a w sound.

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The w sound to link vowel sounds

The w sound (as well as the y sound) may be added into words or between them when there would otherwise be two adjacent vowels. The addition of the glide sound helps the speaker clearly articulate both vowel sounds. If the first vowel is a two-sound vowel that already ends in a slight w sound, the w sound will be made more significant.

Adding a w sound Between Vowels
within words		between words
herowic		who_w_asked
intuwition		go_w_away
fluwent		do_w_it

For more information about adding glide sounds between vowels, see the Linking Vowels lesson.

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The w sound in suffixes

• none

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Non-phonetic w sound words

The w sound is underlined in the following words:

one
choir
memoir

NOTE: The words one and won are homonyms and are pronounced the same.

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Other sounds to compare with the w sound sound

• oo sound
• ow sound
• long o sound

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^[1]When the letters wh are followed by the oo sound (such as the word who) or the long o sound (such as the word whole), the letters wh are more likely to be pronounced as an h sound.

^[2]The qu spelling is not strictly a w sound, but is rather a w sound preceded by a k sound.

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