Minimal pair · General American
English /ʊ/ vs /ʌ/Put or putt?
Compare the stressed vowels /ʊ/ and /ʌ/ in General American English. Put, look and book share the first category; putt, luck and buck share the second. This is a vowel-quality contrast, not a short-versus-long rule. Broader vowel-training evidence motivates coverage; this binary pool remains an editorial extrapolation.
Practice these soundsA near-close, rounded vowel
Listen to the vowel quality in these complete words. Spelling or duration alone will not identify it.
The STRUT vowel
This is the stressed vowel category in the second set of General American examples.
WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
A small change.
A different word.
Put/putt, look/luck and book/buck keep the consonants unchanged within each pair. The target vowel is /ʊ/ in the first category and /ʌ/ in the second.
Listen for the target sound in each word.
A common trap
The spelling oo does not guarantee one English vowel. This is the FOOT–STRUT distinction in General American, separate from the /ʊ–u/ contrast in words such as full and fool. Length alone does not identify it.
Sound examples
Tap to hear each word10 words. Words stay hidden during practice unless you choose to reveal them.