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    ʊ

    The /ʊ/ sound: oo as in book

    • Vowel
    • Short
    • High priority for IELTS

    Hear it

    in book

    Lips
    Rounded
    Tongue
    Fairly high, near the back
    Voice
    On
    Length
    Short

    The sound on its own: recording by No machine-readable author provided. Denelson83 assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. Credits

    How to make /ʊ/

    1. 1

      Round your lips loosely, much less than for /uː/.

    2. 2

      Keep your tongue high and back but relaxed.

    3. 3

      Make it short and soft: book, put, good.

    Sounds like
    a short, relaxed 'oo', the sound in 'good'

    /ʊ/ vs /uː/: full vs fool

    Every pair

    /ʊ/ is short with loose lips; /uː/ is long with tightly rounded, pushed-forward lips. Whistle-shape your lips for 'fool'; relax everything for 'full'.

    1 / 8

    Which word do you hear?

    How /ʊ/ is spelled

    • oo
    • u
    • oul
    • o

    The usual mistake

    Using a long tense /uː/ so 'full' sounds like 'fool' and 'pull' like 'pool'. /ʊ/ is short, lazy and relaxed.

    Words to practise

    Say it and get scored

    Read book, put, good, could, woman, full aloud. Free, no account.

    Check my /ʊ/

    Questions

    How do you pronounce the /ʊ/ sound?
    Round your lips loosely, much less than for /uː/. Keep your tongue high and back but relaxed. Make it short and soft: book, put, good.
    What is the most common mistake with /ʊ/?
    Using a long tense /uː/ so 'full' sounds like 'fool' and 'pull' like 'pool'. /ʊ/ is short, lazy and relaxed.
    Which spellings make the /ʊ/ sound?
    Common spellings include “oo”, “u”, “oul”, “o”, as in book /bʊk/, put /pʊt/, good /ɡʊd/.
    Does /ʊ/ matter for IELTS?
    Yes. This is a high-priority sound. Errors here frequently change one word into another, which examiners hear as reduced clarity (the exact Band 6 wording is “mispronunciation … reduces clarity at times”).