Sound Gym

god · good

/ɡɒd/ vs /ɡʊd/ — short open /ɒ/ (like “hot”) vs short back /ʊ/ (like “book”) — a single letter changes everything.

⠿ reorder

Rays of golden light breaking through clouds

noun — a divine or supernatural being — 'God' (the Abrahamic deity, capitalised) · 'the gods of ancient Greece' · 'thank God' · 'oh my god'

mouth shape

short /ɒ/ — lips slightly rounded, mouth open — like 'hot', 'pot', 'lot' — a quick, open sound — NOT rounded like /ʊ/

god

/ɡɒd/

vowel length

short /ɒ/

⠿ reorder

adjective — of high quality, morally right, or enjoyable — 'a good book' · 'good morning' · 'feel good' · 'for the greater good'

mouth shape

short /ʊ/ — lips round and push forward SLIGHTLY — like 'book', 'cook', 'look' — NOT as long or pushed as /uː/ in 'food' — a short, back rounded vowel

good

/ɡʊd/

vowel length

short /ʊ/

Back vowel spotlight — open vs rounded

god

/ɡɒd/

short /ɒ/ — open, slightly rounded

like: hot · pot · lot · got

≠

good

/ɡʊd/

short /ʊ/ — back, lips round more

like: book · cook · look · took

The three OO vowels in English

/ɒ/

god, hot, pot

open — lips barely round

/ʊ/

good, book, look

back — lips round a little

/uː/

food, moon, too

back — lips fully round, long

Key difference

Same /ɡ/ and /d/ — only the vowel differs.god uses /ɒ/— a quick, open, slightly rounded sound, like “hot” or “pot”.good uses /ʊ/— lips round a bit more and the tongue pulls back — like “book” or “look”. It is NOT the long /uː/ of “food”.

Example sentences

god:“The ancient Greeks worshipped many gods.”

god:“Oh my god, I can’t believe she said that!”

good:“That was a really good meal — thank you.”

good:“It’s for the good of the community.”

Hear it in a sentence

“The ancient Greeks believed each god controlled a different force of nature.”

“She did a good job of hiding how nervous she actually was.”

Hear it in the wild

Real speech from native speakers — the most reliable way to check a pronunciation, since automated audio can vary by device and browser.

YouGlish↗

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