Pronunciation Course Pure vowel 3: /u/
Course introduction How to use this course
An introduction to phonemes Vowels Pure vowels Pure vowel 1: /i/ Pure vowel 2: /e/ Pure vowel 3: /u/ Pure vowel 4: /o/ Pure vowel 5: /a/ Pure vowels recap Vowel combinations Vowel combinations part 1 Type 1 diphthongs Type 2 diphthongs Type 2 diphthongs – /w/ + vowel Hiatus Vowels review Consonants An introduction to Spanish consonants /p/, /b/, /m/ /f/, /t/, /d/ /s/, /n/, /l/ /tʃ/, /ɲ/, /ʎ/, /j/, and /w/ /k/ and /g/ /x/ /r/
Intonation An introduction to Spanish intonation Introduction to Spanish stress Word stress Sentence stress Spanish rhythm Spanish pitch Pitch patterns Allophones An introduction to allophones /i/ and its allophones /u/ and its allophones /o/ and /a/ allophones /b/ and its allophones /d/ and its allophones /g/ and its allophones /s/ and its allophones /n/ and its allophones
Syllabication Introduction to syllabication The rules of syllabication Spanish linking Spanish accents Spanish around the world Mexican Spanish Argentinian Spanish Colombian Spanish Caribbean Spanish Chilean Spanish Castillian Spanish
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3

Pure vowel 3: /u/

The next Spanish pure vowel is /u/.

How it sounds

This sound is similar to the “ou” sound in “you”, but the tongue is brought back slightly further in the mouth:

 

Mouth position

The lips are rounded tightly, and the tongue is placed back and up in the mouth:

vowel-u

What to avoid

This sound is similar to our English “u” sound, but sounds different due to the tongue being placed slightly further back in the mouth. We need to be careful to learn the Spanish variation, and use that rather than falling back on our English “u”. English speakers also have a tendency to add a “w” sound to the end of the vowel sound, which we need to avoid. Here’s how that sounds:

 

Also, we need to be careful to avoid adding the consonant /j/ to the start of the vowel (remember, this is the “y” from “yoghurt”, confusingly…), which we may do if the /u/ sound starts the word:

Correct:

 

Incorrect:

 

Compare the following pronunciations of “Uruguay”. Which uses the correct pronunciation?

 

Hover/tap to reveal answer

The first recording is the correct pronunciation. The second introduces the sound /ju/, which is incorrect.

Finally, consider the pronunciation of “u” in English in the word “umbrella”:

 

We want to avoid this “darker” sound from umbrella, as it doesn’t exist in Spanish. Compare these two pronunciations of the Spanish word “último”, meaning “last”:

Incorrect:

 

 

Correct:

 

Listen and Repeat

Exercise

Listen to the following words. Some of them use the Spanish pure /e/ sound, whereas others use the “ey” (represented by /ei/) sound that we described above. Choose which of the sounds the words use:

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