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    ʌ

    The /ʌ/ sound: u as in cup

    • Vowel
    • Short
    • High priority for IELTS

    Hear it

    in cup

    Lips
    Relaxed
    Tongue
    Mid-low and to the centre
    Voice
    On
    Length
    Short

    How to make /ʌ/

    1. 1

      Relax your lips completely, no rounding, no spreading.

    2. 2

      Keep your tongue low and central, mouth half-open.

    3. 3

      Make a short, punchy 'uh': cup, love, money.

    Sounds like
    a short grunt 'uh' with a fully relaxed mouth

    /æ/ vs /ʌ/: cat vs cut

    Every pair

    /æ/ is at the front with a wide open mouth; /ʌ/ is a lazy central grunt. Say 'cat' with a grin, 'cut' with a completely slack face.

    1 / 8

    Which word do you hear?

    How /ʌ/ is spelled

    • u
    • o
    • ou
    • oo

    The usual mistake

    Rounding the lips so 'luck' sounds like 'look', or fronting it so 'cut' sounds like 'cat'. Spelling misleads here: 'love', 'money' and 'country' all use /ʌ/.

    Hardest for speakers of

    Words to practise

    Say it and get scored

    Read cup, up, love, money, country, enough aloud. Free, no account.

    Check my /ʌ/

    Questions

    How do you pronounce the /ʌ/ sound?
    Relax your lips completely, no rounding, no spreading. Keep your tongue low and central, mouth half-open. Make a short, punchy 'uh': cup, love, money.
    What is the most common mistake with /ʌ/?
    Rounding the lips so 'luck' sounds like 'look', or fronting it so 'cut' sounds like 'cat'. Spelling misleads here: 'love', 'money' and 'country' all use /ʌ/.
    Which spellings make the /ʌ/ sound?
    Common spellings include “u”, “o”, “ou”, “oo”, as in cup /kʌp/, up /ʌp/, love /lʌv/.
    Does /ʌ/ 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”).