1. What’s the difference between bus and boss ?
Everyone Wants To Know
What’s the difference between bus and boss ?
This lesson is from the series, “Everyone Wants to Know”. Today we answer the question, “What’s the difference between “bus” and “boss”?
I’m Alice Wujciak, your Pronunciation Coach.
Alice Wujciak, Pronunciation Coach
PerfectYourAmericanAccent.com

2. bus boss Hear See Pronounce Articulate Be understood Bus. Boss.
You will learn how to pronounce these words correctly.
Pay attention to the sounds that you hear, not the spelling.
The difference between these two sounds is not found in the letters O and U. Instead, the difference is in how much you open or close your mouth!
Pay attention during the lesson. When you say “bus”, do you open or close your mouth? When you say “boss”, do you open or close your mouth?

3. You take the bus to work.

4. At work you say hello to your boss.

5. Click on Can you hear the two different sounds in ‘bus’ and ‘boss’?
bus. boss.
Click on the Sound Icon next to each picture to hear me say them again. They may sound the same to you, but practice until you can hear the difference.

6. A E I O U
I’ll explain to you how you can say the two different words correctly, even if you can’t hear the difference!
First, what are the vowel sounds in ‘bus’ and ‘boss’?
I’ll give you a hint: The vowels are not / U and O /!
In English, we have 16 different vowel sounds. Sometimes O and U stand for new sounds that is not used in your language.
The sounds are new, but you will use the same parts of your mouth that you always use.

7. A E I O U
I can explain the sounds in ‘bus’ and ‘boss’ by telling you how to “adjust” one or more parts of your mouth.
First, ‘bus’.
The word ‘bus’ is spelled with ‘U’. ‘bus’.
Don’t say / b u s /! There’s a simple way to say the right sound.
Relax your mouth.
Say / uh uh uh / Really! I know, it doesn’t sound like any vowel sound you know! But that’s the usual sound of the letter ‘u’ in short words such as bus, but, up, tub, luck, mud, lung, hut, rush
/ uh uh uh / You made the right sound!
/ uh uh uh / / b uh s, b uh s, b uh s /
The word ‘bus’ has a vowel sound that is very relaxed. After the /b/ sound, relax your mouth. / b uh s /
Click on the vowel sound and the word to hear them again.

8. U First, ‘bus’. The word ‘bus’ is spelled with ‘U’. ‘bus’.
Don’t say / b u s /! There’s a simple way to say the right sound.
Relax your mouth.
Say / uh uh uh / Really! I know, it doesn’t sound like any vowel sound you know!
/ uh uh uh / You made the right sound!
/ uh uh uh / / b uh s, b uh s, b uh s /
The word ‘bus’ has a vowel sound that is very relaxed. After the /b/ sound, relax your mouth. / b uh s /
Click on the vowel sound and the word to hear them again.

9. U mud but lung up hut tub rush luck bus
I can explain the sounds in ‘bus’ and ‘boss’ by telling you how to “adjust” one or more parts of your mouth.
First, ‘bus’.
The word ‘bus’ is spelled with ‘U’. * ‘bus’.
Don’t say / b u s /! There’s a simple way to say the right sound.
Relax your mouth.
Say / uh uh uh / Really! I know, it doesn’t sound like any vowel sound you know! But that’s the usual sound of the letter ‘u’ in short words * such as bus, but, up, tub, luck, mud, lung, hut, rush
/ uh uh uh / You made the right sound!
/ uh uh uh / / b uh s, b uh s, b uh s /
The word ‘bus’ has a vowel sound that is very relaxed. After the /b/ sound, relax your mouth. / b uh s /
Click on the vowel sound * and the word * to hear them again.

10. O Buttons to play audio of vowel sound and whole word ‘boss’
Now, the person you work for, your boss. The word ‘boss’ is spelled with ‘O” But don’t say /bos/!
To say the vowel in ‘boss’, stretch your jaw open wider! / b aw s, b aw s, b aw s /
Starting with / o /, keep your lips rounded but ALSO stretch your jaw open at the same time!: / aw /.
/ b aw s /

11. Click on Say ‘bus’ with a relaxed mouth: / b uh s /.
Say ‘boss’ with a stretched mouth: / b aw s /.
That’s it!
Click to hear the vowel sound and the word again.

12. Click on
Let’s review the two new sounds.
The sound in ‘bus’ is /uh/.
You lips are usually rounded when you say a regular /u/. Relax your lips.
Your tongue is usually pulled back in your mouth when you say /u/. Let your tongue relax. You can feel it will fall forward.
In English, the usual sound of the letter ‘u’ in short words is this relaxed sound, /uh/.

13. Click on
Now I’ll tell you more about the adjustments we make to say the sound in ‘boss’. You know that you should open your jaw more. Here’s the explanation:
Start with your mouth ready to say a normal /o/. You may notice that your tongue is pulled back in your mouth. Don’t adjust your tongue! If you know where it is, it’s easier to keep it there!
Now open your mouth (that is, lower your jaw) while keeping your tongue in the same place.
Say: boss

14. loss Ross cross off toss office cost offer lost often Moss Soft loft
We find other words with this /aw/ sound. You can recognize them from the spelling patterns.
Some of these are spelled with ‘o’, like boss, others with ‘a’. Here are some examples of the letter ‘O’ representing the sound /aw/:
loss, Ross, cross, toss, cross, moss
Cost, lost
Soft, loft
Off, office, offer, often
Song, strong, wrong, long, longer

15. salt halt alternate waltz also
all
tall
small
call
mall
wall
ball
salt halt alternate waltz also
The vowel sound in ‘boss’ is also found in words spelled with ‘a’.
Here are some words with the sound /aw/. You can see and hear the spelling pattern:
All, tall, small, call, mall, wall, ball
Salt, halt, alternate. Waltz.
also

16. How do you get to work? The . . . Who do you see at work? The . . .

17. AW AU law saw jaw paw raw audio audience automobile auto automatic
Paul
fault
vault
Maude
awful,
awesome
awkward
crawl
Finally, the sound /aw/ corresponds to the spellings A-W and A-U. In fact, native speakers of English consider A-W to be the main way to spell /aw/!
Examples of these words with ‘aw’ are:
Law, saw, jaw, paw, raw. Awful, awesome, awkward, crawl.
Make the same sound when you see the letters ‘au’”
Audio, audience, automobile, auto, automatic.
Paul, fault, vault.
Maude,
Now you understand the difference between ‘bus’ and ‘boss’. The next slide is a Collector Card with a summary of the adjustments you make to pronounce the sounds in each word. It is your reward for completing this lesson.
You may print it out onto a 3x5 file card and save it to review what you learned.

18. bus boss Open your mouth Relax your mouth
Card has colorful background and is numbered and tagged for collecting, organizing, and reviewing
bus
Here’s your Collector Card for ‘bus’ and ‘boss’. Congratulations! You earned it!
Open your mouth
lips still rounded
Relax your mouth

19. this Next lesson: How do you say the word “this” ?
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Alice Wujciak, Pronunciation Coach
PerfectYourAmericanAccent.com