The Short Open U Sound in American English

We can say that short u has two sounds. I’m going to call them the short “open u” and the short “closed u,” because of the position of your mouth when you say these letters. They are different, and both are used often in very common words.

When I See the Letter U, How Do I Know Which Sound to Make?

So how do you know, when you see the letter “u” in a word, which sound to make? Well, the answer to that is – you probably will not know. There are really no rules about this. That’s why it is so important to spend time listening to American English.

I may sound like a “broken record,” but again, the best way to learn how to pronounce these words is to hear them, because English isn’t a phonetic alphabet, and letters can have more than one sound.

So How Do I Pronounce Short Open U?

To make short “open” u, your mouth will be narrower, as for short o, but it will be even smaller top to bottom. Make sure your tongue stays firmly on the bottom of your mouth.

Say these words with me from John chapter 1.

but
blood
of
us
such
Son
come
from
under
among

Now that you’ve practiced the more common short open u sound, let’s look at the short closed u sound. Click the button to go there now!