Pair /uː/ vs /ʊ/

Minimal pairs: /uː/ vs /ʊ/

This lesson trains your ear and mouth to feel the difference between long, tense /uː/ and short, relaxed /ʊ/.

The two-key contrast

• /uː/: long duration, lips tightly rounded as if whistling, tongue high and back.
• /ʊ/: short duration, lips loosely rounded, tongue slightly lower and relaxed.

Classic minimal pairs

• pool vs pull
• fool vs full
• Luke vs look
• suit vs soot
• who'd vs hood

Say each pair slowly, exaggerating the lip rounding and length on the /uː/ word, then snapping the /ʊ/ word short.

Common pitfalls

• Making both vowels sound the same (the #1 mistake).
• Relying only on length — lip rounding matters just as much.
• Forgetting to relax the lips on /ʊ/.

Practice tip

Hold up two fingers for /uː/ (long) and one finger for /ʊ/ (short) while you say the pairs. The physical cue locks in the duration contrast.

Listening check

Close your eyes and have someone say the pairs in random order — can you tell pool from pull every time? That's your goal.