How many phonemes are in the word wood?

In this lesson you will learn everything you need to know about pronouncing the /ʊ/, UU as in WOOD vowel sound in American English.

Here’s what we will cover:

1) Exactly how to move the mouth to make this sound
2) Minimal pair listening practice to help you differentiate the /ʊ/, UU as in WOOD vowel from the /u/, U as in BLUE
3) Imitation of this sound in words and sentences

CLARITY KICKSTART STUDENTS: Minimal pairs begin at 2:50 and end at 6:12

Practice words and sentences used in this lesson:

Could

I wish I could.

This could work.

Book

I love this book.

Did you book it?

Full

The course is full.

It was a really full day.

Woman

She’s an amazing woman.

What a woman!

Took

That took too long.

He took it well.

Sugar

It has a lot of sugar.

I’m trying to eat less sugar.


Continue your practice with this list of

50 Super Common UU, /ʊ/ as in WOOD Words

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

would

could

look

good

should

put

book

foot

pull

full

push

bush

wolf

wood

took

stood

hook

cook

bull

hood

crook

wool

shook

brook

nook

bookcase

jury

sugar

woman

football

cookbook

goodness

fury

cookie

wooden

during

cushion

bullet

butcher

pudding

understood

bulletin

overlook

booklet

bully

footage

fully

withstood

woolen

crooked


Grab the PDF of this practice list here:

How many phonemes are in the word wood?

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English Phonemes, Spellings, Example Words, and Sound Analogies

Borrowed freely from Open Court materials and AU lesson designs

Phoneme

Spelling(s) and Example Words

Sound Analogies

/A/ a (table), a_e (bake), ai (train), ay (say) Long A; Fonzie’s greeting
/a/ a (flat) Crying baby; baby lamb; home alone
/b/ b (ball) Beating heart; drum; basketball
/k/ c (cake), k (key), ck (back) Nutcracker; golf shot; camera, chopping with an ax; walking on gravel; breaking a stick
/d/ d (door) Knocking; dribbling ball; drum; dinosaur
/E/ e (me), ee (feet), ea (leap), y (baby) Long E; shriek
/e/ e (pet), ea (head) Rocking chair; creaky door; hard of hearing; clearing my throat
/f/ f (fix), ph (phone) Angry cat; clothes brush; electric fan; soda fizz; sweeping the floor; spray bottle
/g/ g (gas)  Croaking frog, gulping soda
/h/  h (hot)  Out of breath; warm breath; tired dog
 /I/  i (I), i_e (bite), igh (light), y (sky)  Long I; “Aye, aye, Captain”
 /i/  i (sit)  Crying puppy; icky sticky; baby pig
 /j/  j (jet), dge (edge), g[e, i, y] (gem)  Scrub brush; wood rasp; jump rope
 /l/  l (lamp)  Flying saucer; mixer; lapping water
/m/ m (my)  Mm-m-m; hummingbird
 /n/  n (no), kn (knock)  Mosquito; motorboat
 /O/  o (okay), o_e (bone), oa (soap), ow (low)  Long O; Oh, I see
 /o/  o (hot)  Say ah; doctor sound; cool drink; yawn
 /p/  p (pie)  Popcorn; water drip; skipping stone; soap bubbles
/kw/  qu (quick)  Coffee pot; typewriter; quacking duck
 /r/  r (road), wr (wrong)  Chainsaw; angry lion; robot; growling dog
 /s/  s (say), c[e, i, y] (cent)  Snake; leaky ball; hair spray; sizzling bacon
 /t/  t (time)  Ticking clock; timer; automatic sprinkler
 /U/  u (future), u_e (use), ew (few)  Long U
/u/  u (thumb), a (about), e (loaded), o (wagon)  I dunno; mother bear; punch in the stomach; foghorn
 /v/  v (voice)  Electric shaver; airplane; vacuum
 /w/  w (wash)  Lariat; fly rod; washing machine; helicopter
 /ks/ or /gz/  x (box, exam)  Pop top soda can; grease gun
 /y/  y (yes)  Sticky mess
/z/  z (zoo), s (nose)  Buzzing bee; arc welder; zipper
 /OO/  oo (boot), u (truth), u_e (rude), ew (chew)  Ghost; howling wolf; owl
 /oo/ oo (book), u (put)  Lifting weights; chin-up bar
 /oi/  oi (soil), oy (toy)  Seal; squeaky gate; spring
/ou/  ou (out), ow (cow)  Inoculation; sting; pinch
/aw/  aw (saw), au (caught), a[l] (tall)  Poor thing; crow
 /ar/  ar (car)  Spinning tire; grinding gears; gargle; pirate
 /sh/  sh (ship), ti (nation), ci (special)  Be quiet; watering the lawn; rain
 /hw/  wh (white)  Blow out the candle
 /ch/  ch (chest), tch (catch)  Old train; antique car; chipmunk
/th/  or /th/  th (thick, this)  Peeling tape; angry goose; wet shoes
 /ng/  ng (sing), n (think)  Gong; string bass
 /zh/  s (measure)  Sawing wood; sander
 /er/  er (her), ir (sir), ur (fur)  Chainsaw; angry lion; robot; growling dog

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Last modified: June 10, 2022

What is the phonetic of wood?

/wUd/phonetic spelling.

How do you count phonemes in a word?

This is a very simple rule to count phonemes in a word. All you have to do is to select a word that you would be counting phonemes of. Then start pronouncing the word. Each time there is a movement inside your mouth, count it.

How many phonemes are in the word?

Despite there being just 26 letters in the English language there are approximately 44 unique sounds, also known as phonemes. The 44 sounds help distinguish one word or meaning from another.

How do you find phonemes?

To identify a phoneme, first look at the word and consider how many sounds are in the word. For example: the word hat has 3 phonemes: /h/ /a/ /t/. However, the word pitch also has 3 phonemes: /p/ /i/ /tch/, although it has more letters.