Decoding exercises: "oo"

The sequence "oo" can be pronounced basically as /uː/ and /ʊ/. There are, of course, exceptions, noted below.

Many students are not aware that /uː/ and /ʊ/ are different phonemes. For them a prerequisite lesson is Pronunciation exercises: /uː/ vs /ʊ/.

/uː/

 * boom - boost - boot - brood - choose - cool - coot - crooner - doom - drool - droop - food - fool - hoop - hoot - loop - loose - loot - mood - moon - moose - moot - noon - pool - proof - root - school - schooner - scoop - shoot - soon - spook - spool - snooker - snooze - stool - stoop - tool - toot - tooth - troop - zoom

Note that /ʊ/ cannot end a word. The following words necessarily end in /uː/. Stress marks added to facilitate pronunciation.
 * bamˈboo - boo - ˈcuckoo /ˈkʊkuː/ - ˈigloo - kangaˈroo - moo - shamˈpoo - shoo - taˈboo - tatˈtoo - too - ˈvoodoo - ˈWaterloo or Waterˈloo - zoo

/ʊ/
Only a few consonants can follow /ʊ/.
 * /d/: childhood - good - hood - neighborhood - neighbourhood - stood - understood - wood
 * /k/: book - brook - cook - crook - hook - look - rook - shook - took
 * /l/: wool
 * /t/: foot - soot

For some people /f/ and /m/ can be added to the above consonants (see "/uː/ or /ʊ/" below).
 * /f/: hoof - roof
 * /m/: broom - groom - room

/uː/ or /ʊ/
In the 1920s and earlier the more usual pronunciation of room was probably /rʊm/. In the United Kingdom in 1988, 81% pronounced /ruːm/. In the United States in 1993 the figure was higher: 93%.

Other examples: bedroom - blooming (swear word) - broom - groom - hoof - mushroom - roof - room - roomy - root (only as a variant in American English)

Exceptions

 * /ɔː/: door - floor


 * /ɔː/ or /ʊə/: poor


 * /ʌ/: blood - flood


 * Different syllables
 * /əʊ ɒ/: cooperate - cooperation - zoologist - zoology
 * /əʊ ə/: zoological
 * /əʊ ɔː/: coordinate - coordination - microorganism


 * Two different words
 * no one ( is a misspelling)

Homophones

 * root /ruːt, rʊt/ - route /ruːt, raʊt/; shoe - shoo; too - two; wood - would;