Short U Words

Vowel sounds come in two varieties: long vowels and short vowels. When it comes to decoding words, beginning readers most frequently start with short vowels. Why? Because short vowels have fewer spelling variations. That makes it easier to master the sounds before moving on to the more complex long vowels. Some short vowels have only a single common spelling pattern, such as the Short A sound, while others are a bit more complicated. Let’s take a look at short U words.

In phonics, the Short U (ŭ) is formed by opening the mouth partway. The tongue is relaxed and set low in the mouth, with the sides of the tongue lightly touching the bottom teeth, as in the image below.

As with all phonics sounds, it is a good idea for new readers to practice saying short U words in front of a mirror. Doing so will allow them to see how their mouth moves when making the Short U sound.

Before children can learn to read, they must first understand the sound a letter makes. The Short U sound (ŭ) is pronounced “uh,” as in the words up, cut, gum, hug, and rub.

The best way to teach the Short U sound is by focusing on words that begin with a Short U, such as up, under, and umbrella. This approach is recommended because it is easier for children learning phonics to isolate the first sound in a word than to break a word apart into its individual phonemes (or sounds).

When practicing short U words, try saying them aloud. Encourage your child to repeat the first sound in the word back to you. Then ask them to determine what letter makes that sound. Some words that begin with a short U sound include:

• Ugly
• Ulcer
• Ultimate
• Umpire
• Unplug
• Untie
• Uproot

Pro Tip: Be careful to avoid words that begin with a long U sound like unicorn, unite, and uniform.

Once they have mastered identifying the short U at the beginning of a word, move on to short U CVC words.

Children who are just beginning to read and decode words are most likely to encounter short U words in the form of CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. Some examples of such Short U words include tug, bus, mud, and lug. 

As a child’s decoding skills increase and encounter longer words, the short U will appear with letter blends. Common short U words include plug, club, and drum.

Below are more examples of short U words. For short U word lists and short U activities, see the activity section after this article. 

Help your child learn to recognize short U words and spelling patterns by using word families. 

A word family is a set of words that share a common feature. For early readers, that common feature is typically the ending sound of the word.

Below is a list of short U word families to begin with:

• -ub
• -ud
• -ug
• -um
• -un
• -up
• -ut

Pro Tip: Although words such as blurt and curb seem like they should be short U words, the “UR” sound actually falls into a unique category called “R-controlled vowels” that are neither short vowels nor long vowels.

As children’s abilities to blend letters improves, they may move into more complex short U word families such as:

• -uck
• -ump
• -unk
• -ust

Word families may be presented as a list of words for a new reader to practice decoding, such as the one below.

The more a new reader practices a spelling pattern, the more ingrained it will become until reading and recognizing the spelling pattern becomes second nature.

Understanding how to read short U words is about more than being able to read a single word containing a short U. It is also about being able to recognize the sound a short U makes in a word. Begin by asking your child to read single words that use the short U sound. Then try stringing several words together to form a sentence. Below is a sample of decodable text focusing on short U words:

• The pug dug up the mums.
• The pup tugs the rug.
• The cub cut a nut.

Note that each of these sentences features only CVC words. Once your child has mastered reading CVC words featuring the short E sound, try introducing short E sentences that feature consonant blends. Below are a sample of decodable sentences using short U consonant blends:

• The slug hugs the bugs.
• The cub must drum.
• Just dump the cup.

Pro Tip: Writing sentences without the words such as the, and, and is can be challenging. These words are high-frequency words and are among the first children memorize. Don't be afraid to include them in sentences, but to be sure to help your child read them.

Print a short U word on a piece of paper, with a picture of the word on the other side. Do this for several words, all using the short U sound. Encourage your child to read the word. Then flip the card over to see if they read it correctly.

Once your child has mastered short U words, add cards that feature all five short vowel sounds. Encourage your child to say the name of the picture word out loud as many times as needed to identify the vowel used. Then ask them to put the card in a pile labeled with the correct short vowel sound. Once all of the words are sorted, turn the cards over to see if the words were properly sorted.

This kind of hands-on activity engages an early reader in the process of recognizing words and reinforces spelling patterns in a way that endless reciting, copying, and workbook pages cannot.

Ask your child to read sentences featuring Short U words. Then test their comprehension by asking them to draw a picture of what they read.

Download our Short U activities and word lists below for more practice.