Eva Easton – The Music of English

2. double oo = /ʊ/

There are 4 ways we pronounce written double oo:

1. /uw/ most common
2. /ʊ/
3. /ʌ/
4. /ɔ–ɚ/

Written double oo = / ʊ/ in a small number of words.
There is a list of all of them at the bottom.

First, let’s listen to the difference between /uw/ and /ʊ/.

look /lʊk/
moon /muwn/

cool /kuwl/
brook /brʊk/

cook /kʊk/
food /fuwd/

foot /fʊt/
boot /buwt/

And now let’s practice /ʊ/.

look /lʊk/
good /gʊd/
cook /kʊk/
book /bʊk/
Look at my really good cookbook.
/ˈlʊ–kæt-may-ˈri-yə-liy-gʊd-ˈkʊk–bʊk/

took /tʊk/
cookie /kʊ–kiy/
Who took the cookie?
/ˈhuw-tʊk-ðə-ˈkʊ–kiy/

hood /hʊd/
woods /wʊdz/
Little Red Riding Hood went through the woods.
/ˈlɪ-dəl-rɛd-ˈray-dɪŋ-hʊd-ˈwɛnt|-θruw-ðə-ˈwʊdz/

crooked /ˈkrʊ–kɪd/
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is crooked.
/ðə-liy-nɪŋ-ta-wɚ-əv-ˈpiy-zə-ɪz-ˈkrʊ–kɪd/

good /gʊd/
hood /hʊd/
We live in a good neighborhood.
/wiy-lɪ-vɪ-nə-gʊd-ˈney-bɚ-hʊd/

stood /stʊd/
foot /fʊt/
She stood on one foot.
/ʃiy-ˈstʊ–dan-wʌn-fʊt/

Here is the whole list of written oo words pronounced /ʊ/.
All the words on the list are sometimes parts of larger words, as we see with: cookie, crooked, neighborhood

Part 1: common words…with pictures and audio above:

book
brook
cook
crook
foot
good
hood
look
stood
took
wood

Part 2: less common words…without pictures:

hoof /hʊf/
hook /hʊk/
nook /nʊk/
rook /rʊk/
shook /ʃʊk/
soot (coal dust) /sʊt/
woof /wʊf/
wool /wʊl/

Next blog post: 3. /ʌ/

1. double oo = /uw/

There are 4 ways we pronounce written double oo:

1. /uw/
2. /ʊ/
3. /ʌ/
4. /ɔ–ɚ/

Today we’ll practice the most common pronunciation: /uw/
Put your mouth in the same shape as the picture.

schoolroom /ˈskuwl–ruwm/

broom /bruwm/

roof /ruwf/

noon /nuwn/

boot /buwt/
stool /stuwl/

food /fuwd/
spoon /spuwn/

one scoop /skuwp/ of ice cream
/wʌn-skuw–pə-ˈvay-skriym/

Next blog post: 2. /ʊ/

colleague

I wonder how an American pronounces…
colleague
/ˈkɑ–liyg/

colleague /ˈkɑ–liyg/: a person we work with,
especially in a profession or business,
often of similar rank

This woman is having an online meeting
with a colleague in another country.

Our colleague is giving an important presentation.

Compare: college /ˈkɑ–lɪd͡ʒ/

college: a school that you go to after high school,
where you can earn a bachelor’s degree

They’re college graduates.
They just graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Compare:
colleague /ˈkɑ–liyg/ … college /ˈkɑ–lɪd͡ʒ/

I teach English at a college in the United States.
My colleagues are other English teachers.

lettuce

I wonder how an American pronounces…
lettuce
/ˈlɛ-dɪs/

/ˈlɛ-dɪs/

The word lettuce has a pronunciation point that makes American English different from other Englishes: double tt = flap t [link]

In preparing this post, I learned that iceberg lettuce is the most popular kind of lettuce in the United States.

[Note: Click on the pictures to enlarge them.]

Most lettuce is grown on farms.

Then we go to the grocery store
or farmer’s market to buy it.

People say that it’s easy to grow lettuce.
You can even grow it on your front porch.

Look at this garden planted with 7 types of lettuce.

We put lettuce in all types of sandwiches.

This cheeseburger has a hamburger patty
topped with a slice of cheese
and lettuce, pickle, tomato, onion
on a sesame seed bun.

This salad looks really good…with lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, black olives, cucumber, onion and hard-boiled eggs.

Everyone likes lettuce, even goats.

If you want to become an expert on lettuce,
here is a slide project by Rameesa Salim. [link]

they’re … their … there

I wonder how an American pronounces…

they’re … their … there
/ˈðɛ–ɚ/

Each of these words is 2 syllables,
with r in an unstressed syllable.
they–re … the–ir … the–re
/ˈðɛ–ɚ/ … /ˈðɛ–ɚ/ … /ˈðɛ–ɚ/

The 3 words are pronounced the same.

[for more about r, click here]

Each word is different, though.
Let’s review their meaning and spelling
by looking at my vacation pictures.

they’re = they are

They’re dancing.

their = it belongs to them

The girls are playing with their cellphone.

there = existence
there = location

There is a giant dragon on top of the wall.
Do you see the dragon up there?

So let’s practice.
In the 9 sentences below, fill in each blank with the correct word.
You can check the answers at the end.

(1) The children are happy
because _________ going on vacation.

(2) Mom and Dad have already
bought _________ plane tickets.

(3) _________ all going to the American southwest.

(4) _________ going to see the Grand Canyon.

(5) _________ are many unusual parks in the southwest.

[For information about
Antelope Canyon, click here.]

(6) Imagine _________ surprise
when they see the desert in Arizona.

(7) _________ are a lot of cowboys in the southwest.
They want to see real cowboys.

(8) _________ going to see _________ first rodeo.
Won’t that be fun.

(9) _________ going to have a really good time.

Check answers here.

(1) they’re
(2) their
(3) they’re
(4) they’re
(5) there
(6) their
(7) there
(8) they’re … their
(9) they’re