(9) Uː Close back rounded vowel /uw/

Lips: Tense and in a "whistling" position

Jaw: Almost completely raised

Tongue: High, near the roof of the mouth

Possible Pronunciation Problems

EXAMPLES
	Pronunciation problems occur because of confusing English spelling patterns because of similarity of [u:] and [ʊ] (the sound to be discussed next).
	When you substitute [ ʊ ] for [u:]
		pool becomes pull
		suit becomes soot
	your lips should be tense ans in a "whistling" position when you say [u]. [u] is a long sound; be sure to prolong it.
	You can do it! If you remember to protrude your lips when producing [u], you'll never confuse "pull" with "pool"!

[u] as in you, too, and rule
and [ʊ] as in cook and put

The vowel [u:] does not occur at the beginning of words in English
Exeption: "ooze"

[u:] In the Middle of Words
food	suit	group
pool	truth	ruler
room	goose	school

[u:] At the End of Words
do	shoe	threw
new	flew	through
you	chew	canoe

[u:]Spelled
u	oo	o	ew	ue
rule	cool	do	new	due
rude	fool	to	drew	blue
June	too	who	stew	clue
tune	noon	tomb	knew	glued
tuna	stool	lose	news	avenue

 Note

Less frequent spelling patterns for [u:] consist of the letter ui, ou, oe, ieu ,and ough
fruit      group      shoes       lieutenant       through

 Hint

The letter oo followed by l, m, or n are usually pronounced [u:]
school       boom      moon
When the letter u follows t,d,n, or s, some Americans pronounce it [ju]
Tuesday       duty       new       suit

 Hint:

When speaking English, international student frequently forget to prolong the [u:] vowel before consonant (consonants are all the sound that are no vowels.)

🎧 Listen and repeat. The [u:] vowel is prolonged before consonants. Th dots in the following exercise are there to remind you to lengthen the [u:].

new	new...s	(news)
due	due...s	(dues)
sue	sue...d	(sued)
who	who...m	(whom)
glue	glue...d	(glued)

🎧 Listen and repeat the following phrases and sentences. The boldface words all contain the vowel [u:]

1. What's new?
2. Who is it?
3. How are you?
4. loose tooth
5. in the mood
6. School will soon be through
7. You must chew your food.
8. He proved he knew the truth.
9. The group flew to New York in June.
10. Who ruined my new blue shoes?

[u]as in MOON, YOU

How to Pronounce [u]: The lips are rounded into a "kissing" position. The jaw is completely raised.

Typical Spelling for [u]:use, pool, new, blue

Less Common Spellings for [u]: two, group, fruit, shoe

[u] Words

Remember to keep your lips in a kissing position as you say [u].

Middle	End
tool	few
moon	who
June	shoe
student	true

[u] Sentences
Do you want juice?
The pool was too cool.

Introducing the Sound /uw/

To make the /uw/ sound, Keep the mouth slightly open and the slip 3/8 inch (1 cm) apart. The lips are tense, and pushed forward into a small circle.

The tongue is in mid position

The sound is long

Listen to the examples and repeat them after the speaker

o	oe	oo	ough	ou	u	ui	ue	eu	ew	ieu	oup
do lose who two	canoe shoe	loose choose food	through	soup	flu rude	juice	due blue Tuesday	rheumatism	flew new	lieu
move movie prove to		coo cool loop room school zoo		bouquet boutique routine souvenir	duke junior ludicrous nude spruce	nuisance	avenue rueve sue		dew Jewish lewd stewed	lieuteant	coup

Practice fo Mastery

Listen to the following sentences featuring the sound /uw/ and repeat them after the speaker.

Examples with the sound /uw/

Sue knew the truth

Choose blue for the new room.

It blooms soon, in June.

The news is too gloomy

Compare the sound /ʊ/ with the sound /u/.

Listen and repeat each word after the speaker.

/ʊ/	/u/	/ʊ/	/u/
Full	fool	pull	pool
stood	stewed	cookie	kooky
would, wood	wooed	nook	nuke
hood	who'd

Now repeat the following sentences, which feature both vowel sounds

Examples with both sounds

 

Lou couldn't fool Sue Stu wouldn't move the cooking school. The good pool room is booked for Tuesday at noon. The cook stood and looked at his news shoes.

Recognition Practice

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1.hood	Who'd
2.full	fool
3.wood	wooed
4.nook	nuke
5.stood	stewed

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Click here to See the answers

Recognition Practice: hood, full, wooed, nook, stewed.

Dictation Practice: who'd, stood, pool, would, full.

Spelling Challenge:

• I see a big woman and two little women
• We drank sweet juice in the hotel suite
• It's good food.
• Don't shoot him in the foot.