What is the phonetics of the letter U in English?
The letter u in English has some particular pronunciation rules. In the ABA English online course you will have access to English phonetics and many more resources to practice your English. Sign up for free to learn English in a dynamic and fun way and join our more than 30M students.
In English there are letters, like the B and the T, which are pronounced the same as in Spanish. However, there are others, like the U, which have some variations in their pronunciation. In this article we will explain what the differences are between the Spanish and English version with examples so you understand better and, in the process, expand the list of English words you already master.
At ABA English we are happy to help you improve your pronunciation because we know this makes a difference when communicating in English. That is why we have developed exercises that allow you to practice and improve your pronunciation from any device.
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The English phonetics of the letter U
The phonetic transcription of the letter U in English
Let’s now see how the pronunciation of the letter U is in English. Firstly, to name the letter U, the phonetic transcription is /juː/, it sounds like ‘iu’ in Spanish. If it is part of a word, it is pronounced in two different ways. If it is found in the middle of the word, like in bus, which means ‘bus’ and is phonetically represented as /bʌs/, its pronunciation in Spanish is ‘bas’ with the sound produced by shaping your mouth as if to say U but saying A. On the other hand, if it is at the beginning of the word, it can be pronounced as we just explained or like the Spanish sound ‘iu’. For example, we have under (below), /ˈʌn.dər/, which sounds something like ‘ander’; and unique (unique), /juːˈniːk/, which sounds like ‘iunik’, respectively.
How to improve your pronunciation in English
Do you want to practice your pronunciation of the letter U in English? Try starting with the examples we gave you and with these three: union (union), /ˈjuːn·jən/; run (to run), /rʌn/; and uncanny (strange), /ʌnˈkæn.i/. In this way, besides practicing your pronunciation, you will expand your vocabulary with more English words.
Another good exercise is to record yourself saying words with U and then listen to how you pronounce them, so you will know if you need to keep practicing. This will help you with any new word you want to learn to pronounce!
As we already told you, it is very useful to know the IPA phonemes, and we suggest learning them little by little by practicing them in new words. Pronounce very slowly and pay attention to the movements you make. We have already shown you two to get started.
Different types of pronunciation of the letter u in English
The phoneme of the u may seem a bit complicated to pronounce because it has 6 possibilities. We detail them below:
1. /ju:/
It is the most common way to pronounce the u in English.
- usually (usually)
- university (university)
- music (music)
- duplicate (duplicate, copy)
The university is a place where you can listen to music.
(La universidad es un lugar donde puedes escuchar música).
2. /u:/
It is a long u similar to the Spanish u.
- boot (boot)
- soon (soon)
- mood (mood)
- glue (glue)
The boot has been glued very soon.
(La bota ha sido pegada muy pronto).
3. /ʌ/
It is a short vowel and should not be confused with the Spanish “a” sound.
This sound is usually found in words that do not end in e and where the u is usually between consonants.
- run (run)
- bus (bus)
- budget (budget)
- rush (rush)
- such (such)
Some runners had to go by bus to the race and they didn’t have any money.
(Algunos corredores tuvieron que ir en autobús a la carrera y no tenían nada de dinero).
4. /ʊ/
It is also a short vowel and sounds almost like the Spanish u.
- bull (bull)
- book (book)
- push (push)
- look (look)
The bull looked at me and immediately pushed that huge door.
(El toro me miró e inmediatamente empujó esa enorme puerta).
5. /i/
It is a short vowel and sounds like an i.
- minute (minute)
- minuscule (lowercase)
- build (build)
The building will be builded in one minute.
(El edificio será construido en un minuto).
6. /ɘ/.
It is a short vowel and usually sounds like a schwa.
- future (future)
- culture (culture)
- adventure (adventure)
- furniture (furniture)
- survive (survive)
These furniture will be repaired in the future.
(Estos muebles serán reparados en el futuro).
7. /ɜ/
An exceptional case with the pronunciation of the letter u as ur.
- fur (fur)
- burn (burn)
- hurt (hurt)
- curl (curl)
My hair was burned when it was being curled.
(Mi pelo se quemó cuando lo estaban rizando).
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Practice what you learned about the phoneme of the letter u in English
Classify the following words according to their phoneme and repeat them out loud to practice your pronunciation:
Phonemes: /ju:/ /u:/ /ʌ/ /ʊ/ /i/ /ɘ/ /ɜ/
Words:
would – look – dune – mood – furniture – but – cute – bull – shut – who – minute – jump – use – ugly – flu – picture – burn – build – huge – curve – lunch – fuel – budget – could – up – purple – fur – pull – minuscule – failure – hurt – do – book – usual – blue – culture – insure – soon – capture.
Answers:
/ju:/ : blue, capture, failure, insure, picture, use
/u:/ : book, could, flu, jump, pull, usual
/ʌ/: budget, culture, fuel, look, purple, who
/ʊ/ : build, curve, fur, lunch, shut, would
/i/ : bull, cute, furniture, minuscule, soon
/ɘ/ : burn, do, huge, minute, ugly
/ɜ/ : but, dune, hurt, mood, up
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