How to pronounce who in American English

IPA /hu/ Syllables 1 · hoo

hoo

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Americans pronounce who as hoo (/hu/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Who has the food?" or "Who took my wool sweater?" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "who".

1 syllable, 2 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

h/h/

Push a stream of air from your throat through your open mouth. No tongue or lip contact.

oo/u/

Round your lips into a tight circle. Let your tongue rest in the middle of your mouth, slightly raised.

In real conversation

Hear "who" in the wild.

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

"Bring a cup of water to the cop who lost his cap."

BRIHNG uh KUHP uhv WAH·der tuh dhuh KAHP hoo LAHST hihz KAP

"He explained the offside rule to his friend who was confused."

hee uhk·SPLAYND dhee AHF·sahyd ROOL tuh hihz FREHND hoo wuhz kuhn·FYOOZD

"He is a talented songwriter who has written hits for many stars."

hee ihz uh TA·luhn·tuhd SAHNG·rahy·der hoo huhz RIH·duhn HIHTS fer MEH·nee STARZ

"Hello, who is holding the huge hook?"

huh·LOH hoo ihz HOHL·duhng dhuh HYOOJ HUUK

"Let us take a moment to remember those who could not be here today."

LEHT uhs TAYK uh MOH·muhnt tuh ruh·MEHM·ber dhohz hoo kuud NAHT bee HEER tuh·DAY

"She passed the ball to her teammate who was open."

shee PAST dhuh BAHL tuh her TEEM·mayt hoo wuhz OH·puhn

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Is the American pronunciation of "who" 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 "hoo" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.