How to pronounce shook in American English

IPA /ʃʊk/ Syllables 1 · shuuk Stress 1st syllable

SHUUK

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Americans pronounce shook as SHUUK (/ʃʊk/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The huge boom shook the room at noon" or "The ship shape shadow shook the shelf" — more examples below.

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Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

Overall assessment

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72% Noticeable accent

Common mistakes

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

In "shook", the "k" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "shook".

1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

sh/ʃ/

Flare your lips and lift the mid-front tongue close to the roof of your mouth. Blow air through without voicing.

uu/ʊ/

Bring the corners of your lips in slightly so they push forward, but keep them relaxed. Lift the back of your tongue toward the roof of the mouth.

k/k/

Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate (velum). Stop the air, then release.

In real conversation

Hear "shook" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"He shook his head and took the book back."

hee SHUUK hihz HEHD and TUUK dhuh BUUK BAK

"The huge boom shook the room at noon."

dhuh HYOOJ BOOM SHUUK dhuh ROOM uht NOON

"The ship shape shadow shook the shelf."

dhuh SHIHP SHAYP SHA·doh SHUUK dhuh SHEHLF

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Watch out

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

The textbook way isn't wrong — it's just not how anyone actually says it.

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

In "shook", the "k" is not released — the articulators get into position but hold without the burst of air. Air stops but there's no release burst — the articulators hold position.

shook→SHUUK

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Is the American pronunciation of "shook" different from British English?

American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "SHUUK" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.

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Overall assessment

Common mistakes

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

Every sound in "shook".

Hear "shook" in the wild.

Words that work the same way.

Looking for a different word or sentence?

Common pronunciation mistakes in American English.

Releasing the final consonant with a puff of air.

Questions people ask about this.

Stop reading about "shook". Start saying it.