The Music of English
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/
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/
I wonder how an American pronounces…
book
/bʊk/
We write: book
We say: /bʊk/
For more vowel sound /ʊ/ practice, click here.
/ˈbʊk–stɔ–ɚ/
I like going to a bookstore.
/bʊk/
I choose an interesting book or two.
/ˈbʊk–ma–ɚk/
I use bookmarks to save my place.
/ˈbʊk–ʃɛlf/
I put my new book on my bookshelf at home.
/ˈbʊ–kɛnz/
Sometimes I use bookends.
/ˈpey–pɚ–bæk–bʊks/
I have all kinds of books: paperback books,…
/ˈtɛks–bʊks/
…textbooks for school.
/ˈɔ–di–yow–bʊks/
I really like audiobooks.
/ˈiy–bʊk/
My favorite is an e-book.
I can read it anywhere.
Now I have a question for you.
How many ways do we pronounce written double oo?
[The answer is here.].
There are 4 ways we pronounce written double oo:
1. /uw/ most common
2. /ʊ/ small number of words
3. /ʌ/
4. /ɔ–ɚ/
Written double oo = /ʌ/ in only 2 words.
blood /blʌd/
flood /flʌd/
Let’s listen to 3 ways we pronounce written double oo.
moon /muwn/
look /lʊk/
blood /blʌd/
I have to wash the blood off my hand.
/ay-ˈhæf-tə-wɑʃ-ðə-ˈblʌ–dəf-may-hænd/
What is your blood type?
/ˈwə-dɪz-yɚ-ˈblʌd-tayp/
His eyes are bloodshot.
/hɪ-ˈzay-za-ɚ-ˈblʌd-ʃat/
A bloodhound is a dog used in hunting.
/ə-ˈblʌd-hawn-dɪ-zə-ˈdɔg-yuwz-dɪn-ˈhʌn-tɪŋ/
Floods are common in this region.
/ˈflʌd-zɑ-ɚ-ˈka-mɪ-nɪn-ðɪs-ˈriy-d͡ʒɪn/
The road is flooded.
/ðə-ˈrow-dɪz-ˈflʌ–dɪd/
The road is closed because of flooding.
/ðə-ˈrow-dɪz-ˈklowzd-bɪ-kə-zəv-ˈflʌ–dɪŋ/
A floodlight lights a sports field or stage.
/ə-ˈflʌd-layt-layt-sə-ˈspɔ-ɚts-fiyld-ɔɚ-ˈsted͡ʒ/
Next blog post: 4. /ɔ–ɚ/
There are 4 ways we pronounce written double oo:
1. /uw/ most common
2. /ʊ/ small number of words
3. /ʌ/ 2 words
4. /ɔ–ɚ/ 3 words
Written double oo = /ɔ–ɚ/ in only 3 words.
door /ˈdɔ–ɚ/
floor /ˈflɔ–ɚ/
poor /ˈpɔ–ɚ/
Why do we say it this way? The answer is…the Secret of R [link]
an unstressed vowel + written r = always /ɚ/
do-or /ˈdɔ–ɚ/
flo-or /ˈflɔ–ɚ/
po-or /ˈpɔ–ɚ/
a red front door
/ə-ˈrɛd-frən-ˈdɔ–ɚ/
revolving doors
/rɪ-ˈvɑl-vɪŋ-ˈdɔ–ɚz/
He’s knocking on the door.
/hiyz-ˈnɑ-kɪŋ-an-ðə-ˈdɔ–ɚ/
Our house is blue.
/ˈa-wɚ-haw-sɪz-ˈbluw/
Our next-door neighbor‘s house is green.
/ˈa-wɚ-nɛkst-ˈdɔ–ɚ-ˈney-bɚz-haw-sɪz-ˈgriyn/
We live in a 2-story house.
/wiy-lɪ-vɪ-nə-ˈtuw-stɔ-ɚ-iy-ˈhaws/
The kitchen is on the first floor.
/ðə-kɪ-t͡ʃɪ-nɪ-zɑn-ðə-fɚst-flɔ–ɚ/
The bedrooms are on the second floor.
/ðə-bɛd-ruwm-za-ɚ-an-ðə-sɛ-kɪn-flɔ–ɚ/
a wood floor
/ə-ˈwʊd-ˈflɔ–ɚ/
a tile floor
/ə-ˈtayl-ˈflɔ–ɚ/
He’s rolling on the floor laughing.
/hiyz-ˈrow-lɪŋ-an-ðə-ˈflɔ–ɚ-ˈlæ-fɪŋ/
Poor dog.
/ˈpɔ–ɚ-ˈdɔg/
This is poor driving.
/ˈðɪ-sɪz-ˈpɔ–ɚ-ˈdray-vɪŋ/
Note:
The word poor is pronounced differently in different regions of the U.S.
It’s okay to say either /ˈpɔ–ɚ/ or /puw–ɚ/.