Which vowel team makes the long 'oo' sound in 'moon'?

Which vowel team makes the long 'oo' sound in 'moon'?

• A. oo
• B. ea
• C. ai
• D. ou

Answer: (C)

Think about long vowel sounds formed by vowel teams. In the word moon, you hear a long oo sound, represented by the vowel team oo. When two vowels work together to signal a single, drawn-out sound, that’s a long vowel team, and oo commonly spells the /uː/ sound—as in moon, boot, and mood. The other vowel teams here map to different sounds: ea often makes /iː/ as in sea or /eɪ/ as in break, ai makes /eɪ/ as in rain, and ou can spell /aʊ/ as in out or /oʊ/ as in though. Since the word moon uses oo to spell the /uː/ sound, that is the correct choice.

Think about long vowel sounds formed by vowel teams. In the word moon, you hear a long oo sound, represented by the vowel team oo. When two vowels work together to signal a single, drawn-out sound, that’s a long vowel team, and oo commonly spells the /uː/ sound—as in moon, boot, and mood. The other vowel teams here map to different sounds: ea often makes /iː/ as in sea or /eɪ/ as in break, ai makes /eɪ/ as in rain, and ou can spell /aʊ/ as in out or /oʊ/ as in though. Since the word moon uses oo to spell the /uː/ sound, that is the correct choice.