Sound /uː/

How to pronounce /uː/

/uː/ is the long, tightly rounded vowel you hear in food, blue, and moon. It's one of the most strongly rounded vowels in English.

Mouth shape

• Push your lips forward and round them tightly, as if you're about to whistle.
• Keep a small, circular opening between the lips.

Tongue position

• Raise the back of the tongue high toward the soft palate.
• The tip of the tongue rests behind the lower front teeth.

Jaw & lip tips

• Jaw is fairly closed.
• Hold the lip rounding for the whole sound — don't relax mid-vowel.
• Make it long: "uuuuu".

Common pitfalls

• Letting the lips spread halfway through (it starts sounding like /ʊ/).
• Cutting the vowel too short.

Contrast with /ʊ/

/uː/ is longer and has much tighter lip rounding than its short cousin /ʊ/.

Example words

blue, shoe, food, moon, true, who.