Producing /u/

How to produce /u/

Before anything else, get the articulation right. The right mouth position makes the sound effortless.

/u/
close back rounded
Lips: rounded
Tongue: high-back
Voicing: voiced
💡 Tight lip rounding, tongue high-back.

Key production cues:

Tight lip rounding, tongue high-back.

Practice the sound in isolation

Before trying words, practice the sound on its own. Record yourself. Does it match?

1. Say /u/ in isolation — hold it for 2 seconds.
2. Say /u/ quickly, 5 times in a row: /u-u-u-u-u/.
3. Compare your recording to a native reference.

Try a few isolated words

These words all contain /u/ in different positions — beginning, middle, and end:

• Beginning: oops, ooze, blue
• Middle: new, shoe, food
• End / in clusters: true, soon, room

/u/close back roundedArticulator diagram · regional variants · drill ↗