show · shoe · shoo

show /ʃoʊ/ vs shoe/shoo /ʃuː/ — a gliding diphthong vs a steady long vowel, and shoe/shoo are exact homophones.

show /ʃoʊ/ has a gliding diphthong. shoe and shoo both use the steady, tightly rounded /ʃuː/ — and are themselves exact homophones of each other.

⠿ reorder

Children watching a colourful stage show

noun/verb — a performance or display; OR to make something visible — 'a TV show' · 'show me' · 'show off'

mouth shape

diphthong /oʊ/ — lips round and glide forward — like 'go', 'know', 'grow'

show

/ʃoʊ/

vowel length

diphthong /oʊ/

plays as: “a TV show”

⠿ reorder

noun — an item of footwear — 'a pair of shoes' · 'tie your shoe' · 'in someone's shoes' (idiom: in their situation)

mouth shape

long /uː/ — lips round tightly and push forward, held steady, no glide — like 'blue', 'true', 'food' — a completely different vowel from show's /oʊ/

shoe

/ʃuː/

vowel length

long /uː/

plays as: “tie your shoe”

⠿ reorder

A woman waving her hand to shoo away an insect

verb/interjection — to wave someone or something away — 'shoo the cat off the sofa' · 'shoo, go away!'

mouth shape

identical pronunciation to shoe — /ʃuː/ — an exact homophone, only the spelling and meaning differ

shoo

/ʃuː/

vowel length

long /uː/

plays as: “shoo the cat”

Key difference

show /oʊ/ is a diphthong — the lips round and glide forward as you say it, moving through two positions. shoe and shoo /uː/ are a single, steady long vowel — lips round tightly from the start and hold, with no glide.

Example sentences

show:“We watched a puppet show at the park.”

shoe:“One of my shoe laces came undone.”

shoo:“Shoo! Get off the couch!”

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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show

Hear native speakers say “show” in real sentences — news, lectures, and podcasts.

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