Lessons Unit 2, lesson 4

ʌ + endings

Every ending the ʌ vowel takes, one row at a time. Say the vowel, let the ending close it, and check yourself against the words — all of them real, all verified by the engine.

What do the marks mean?
ˈriːdread Stressed part — say it louder & longer.
to Weak word — say it quickly & softly.
e Silent letter — don’t pronounce it.
θth Underline — these letters spell one sound.
wa·ter Dot · — a syllable break.
goon Linked — blend the words together.
?↗︎↘︎ Arrows — voice rises ↗︎ or falls ↘︎.
ˈsɛvən7 Number — how to say it aloud.
read² ² mark — has a second pronunciation.
guess? ? mark — a best guess; double-check it.

Want the full walkthrough? Read the map explains every mark, with practice.

ʌthe u in cup

Let everything relax — jaw loose, lips doing nothing. A short sound from the middle of your body: uh — cup, sun. If it feels like almost no effort, it's right.

ʌ + every ending

One row per combination. Tap any word to hear it — every sheet comes straight from the tool.

ʌ b
ˈk c l l ʌ u b b
club
ˈs s ʌ u b b
sub
ˈp p ʌ u b b
pub
ʌ d
ˈb b l l o ʌ o d d
blood
ˈf f l l o ʌ o d d
flood
ˈm m ʌ u d d
mud
ʌ f
ˈs s t t ʌ u f ff
stuff
ˈt t ʌ ou f gh
tough
ˈɹ r ʌ ou f gh
rough
ʌ g
ˈd d ɹ r ʌ u ɡ g
drug
ˈb b ʌ u ɡ g
bug
ʌ k / ck
ˈl l ʌ u k ck
luck
ˈs s t t ʌ u k ck
stuck
ˈt t ɹ r ʌ u k ck
truck
ʌ l
ˈs s k k ʌ u l ll
skull
ˈh h ʌ u l ll
hull
ˈd d ʌ u l ll
dull
ʌ m
f f ɹ r ʌ o m m
from
s s ʌ o m m e
some
ˈk c ʌ o m m e
come
ʌ n
ˈɹ r ʌ u n n
run
ˈf f ʌ u n n
fun
ˈs s ʌ o n n
son
ʌ p
ʌ u p p
up
ˈk c ʌ u p p
cup
ˈs s ɛ e t t ˌə u p p
setup
ʌ s
ʌ u s s
us
ˈp p l l ʌ u s s
plus
ˈð th ʌ u s s
thus
ʌ t
b b ʌ u t t
but
w w ʌ ha t t
what
ˈk c ʌ u t t
cut
ʌ v
ʌ o v f
of
ˈl l ʌ o v v e
love
ə a ˈb b ʌ o v v e
above
ʌ z
d d ʌ o e z s
does
ˈb b ʌ u z zz
buzz
ʌ ch
ˈm m ʌ u ch
much
ˈs s ʌ u ch
such
ˈt t ʌ ou ch
touch
ʌ sh
ˈɹ r ʌ u ʃ sh
rush
ˈb b ɹ r ʌ u ʃ sh
brush
ˈk c ɹ r ʌ u ʃ sh
crush
ʌ ng
ˈj y ʌ ou ŋ ng
young
ə a ˈm m ʌ o ŋ ng
among
ˈh h ʌ u ŋ ng
hung
ʌ dge / ge
ˈdʒ j ʌ u dg e
judge
ˈf f ʌ u dg e
fudge
ˈb b ʌ u dg e
budge
ʌ x
ˈf f l l ʌ u ks x
flux
ˈl l ʌ u ks x
lux

The point of this drill

This table gives ʌ — the relaxed vowel in cup — a long list of endings to try on: club, luck, run, love, much, judge. Nothing about your mouth should tense up; jaw loose, lips doing nothing, almost no effort at all. Say a whole row, then say it again a little faster, and check that the vowel never changes shape.

Spelling surprises

ʌ hides behind more spellings than almost any other vowel here — the u in cup, the o in come, the oo in blood, the ou in touch. Say them side by side and you'll hear the same sound underneath four different spellings. Endings with a voiced consonant, like the b in club or the v in love, let the vowel hang on slightly longer than the crisp cut-off you get in luck or but.

An unhandled error has occurred. Reload 🗙

Rejoining the server...

Rejoin failed... trying again in seconds.

Failed to rejoin.
Please retry or reload the page.

The session has been paused by the server.

Failed to resume the session.
Please reload the page.