CURE: /ʊə/ or /ɔː/?
Traditional CURE is /ʊə/. Many common words now use NORTH /ɔː/: sure /ʃɔː/, poor /pɔː/, your /jɔː/, moor /mɔː/. Learn the word, not a blanket spelling rule.
The practical rule
For the common merged words below, use /ɔː/. It is a natural Modern RP choice: sure, poor, your and moor.
Keep a conservative /ʊə/ in the listed retained forms. Our teaching examples include pure /pjʊə/, cure /kjʊə/, Europe /ˈjʊərəp/, tourist /ˈtʊərɪst/ and jury /ˈdʒʊəri/. These are traditional dictionary-style choices, not a claim that every modern speaker makes a clear two-part glide.
Both can be acceptable where the word is variable. Pure /pjɔː/ and cure /kjɔː/ are also heard in modern British speech. Do not correct a standard variant merely because it differs from our chosen example. Some words also have GOOSE-like /uː/ variants.
How to spot it
Spellings such as ure (pure, cure), our (your, tour), oor (poor, moor), and eur (Europe) are clues, not guarantees. Door /dɔː/ already belongs to NORTH; nurse /nɜːs/ is NURSE, not CURE. Check the actual word.
- Check whether it is a CURE word. Use a British dictionary or a familiar word family; spelling alone cannot decide.
- Is it one of the common merged words? For sure, poor, your and moor, choose /ɔː/ in this course’s practical model.
- Listen for /j/ — the “y” sound in yes. It occurs before the vowel in pure /pjʊə/, cure /kjʊə/ and Europe /ˈjʊərəp/. Traditional /ʊə/ is useful in this group, but /j/ does not guarantee retention: your /jɔː/ is a common counterexample.
- Learn the other retained examples as words. Tourist /ˈtʊərɪst/ and jury /ˈdʒʊəri/ belong to our conservative list too. Jury begins with /dʒ/, not /j/: the written letter J is not the y-sound.
- If it is not listed, check both the transcription and the model. Less common or learned words may retain a CURE-type vowel, but frequency, spelling and /j/ are only tendencies. Do not invent a rule for every new word.
No → use its own vowel.
Our recommended common-word model.
/ʊə/ in our retained list; allow recorded variants.
What about R?
In non-rhotic RP, written R is silent before a consonant or pause: pure /pjʊə/, poor /pɔː/. Before a vowel, it can be pronounced: cure it /kjʊər ɪt/, your eyes /jɔːr aɪz/. In Europe /ˈjʊərəp/, tourist /ˈtʊərɪst/ and jury /ˈdʒʊəri/, /r/ is followed by a vowel within the word.
Do not import the NEAR test. A following /r/ + vowel does not mechanically decide CURE → NORTH. Our examples keep /ʊə/ in tourist and jury. CURE has its own word-by-word variation.
Your has a weak form
Our /jɔː/ example is a strong form. Unstressed your is often /jə/, or /jər/ before a vowel. A weak schwa is not a new CURE merger.
Why it happens
Traditional /ʊə/ has two vowel targets: start near FOOT /ʊ/, then relax towards schwa /ə/. In many words, speakers have replaced that glide with the single long rounded vowel /ɔː/, the same vowel as NORTH.
That is a merger: a word that once had CURE now shares its vowel with another set. It spread unevenly through the vocabulary. Sure and poor commonly merged; words such as pure, cure, Europe and tourist show more variation. There is no reliable spelling-only switch.
The remaining CURE forms are not all pronounced alike either. You may hear a shorter glide, a steadier rounded vowel, or a GOOSE-like /uː/ form, especially in words such as Europe and tourist. Our /ʊə/ notation preserves the conservative teaching category; it need not describe every detail of modern speech.
Practical aim: use /ɔː/ confidently in the common merged list, learn our /ʊə/ examples, and recognise other established British variants without forcing an exaggerated “oo-uh”. This is not simply a fast-speech shortcut.
Example words
Recommended common mergers: /ɔː/
sure /ʃɔː/
poor /pɔː/
your /jɔː/ — strong form
moor /mɔː/
you’re /jɔː/ — strong form
tour /tɔː/ — a common modern choice
ensure /ɪnˈʃɔː/
Traditional /ʊə/ variants survive for some speakers. These are recommended choices, not bans on other established British forms.
Our conservative retained forms: /ʊə/
pure /pjʊə/
cure /kjʊə/
Europe /ˈjʊərəp/
tourist /ˈtʊərɪst/
jury /ˈdʒʊəri/
fury /ˈfjʊəri/
secure /sɪˈkjʊə/
The last vowel of jury and fury is happY /i/. This column gives our retained teaching forms; modern /ɔː/ or /uː/-type variants occur in parts of this group.
Say it in a sentence
I am sure. /aɪ æm ʃɔː/
The poor man. /ðə pɔː mæn/
It is pure. /ɪt ɪz pjʊə/
Find a cure. /faɪnd ə kjʊə/
A tourist in Europe. /ə ˈtʊərɪst ɪn ˈjʊərəp/
The jury is here. /ðə ˈdʒʊəri ɪz hɪə/
Phrase stress and weak forms depend on context; these are clear teaching examples.
Try it: 10 quick checks
Choose the course example first, then tap to reveal its answer and reason. The answers test our teaching choices, not a ban on valid alternatives.
1 · sure: /ʊə/ or /ɔː/?
/ɔː/ → /ʃɔː/. Sure is one of the common mergers recommended here.
2 · pure: which form is in our retained list?
/ʊə/ → /pjʊə/. The /j/ group is a useful retention clue, not an absolute rule.
3 · poor: our recommended modern form?
/pɔː/. NORTH /ɔː/ is a common standard choice in poor.
4 · cure: our conservative teaching form?
/kjʊə/. Retain /ʊə/ in this example; /kjɔː/ is also an established modern variant.
5 · Europe: our listed transcription?
/ˈjʊərəp/. This is our conservative dictionary-style form. A GOOSE-like pronunciation is also common; do not force a large glide.
6 · tourist: must a following /r/ + vowel cause NORTH?
No: our example is /ˈtʊərɪst/. A following /r/ + vowel is not a mechanical CURE-merger rule. Other modern variants occur.
7 · jury: does its written J mean /j/?
No: /ˈdʒʊəri/ begins with /dʒ/. Jury is a listed retained example, not evidence for a “J letter” rule. Its final vowel is /i/.
8 · your: is /jɔː/ its only possible form?
No. /jɔː/ is our strong-form model. Unstressed your commonly reduces to /jə/ or linking /jər/.
9 · cure it: what happens to R in our retained model?
/kjʊər ɪt/. Linking /r/ joins the words. Keep the chosen CURE vowel; this is not NEAR long-KIT smoothing.
10 · Is /pjɔː/ for pure automatically wrong?
No. Pure varies. Our retained example is /pjʊə/, but /pjɔː/ is an established modern British choice. Learn variants word by word.
Related rules and sources
NEAR rule: /ɪə/ and long KIT /ɪː/ → NEAR keeps /ɪə/ by default; our within-word smoothing gives series /ˈsɪːriz/. Do not apply that test to all CURE words.
SQUARE /ɛː/ is our normal modern symbol: there /ðɛː/. GOAT stays /əʊ/: home /həʊm/, with GOAL /ɒʊ/ only before dark L within the word.
Conservative British transcriptions: Cambridge: cure, Europe, jury, tourist and sure. For the broader range of modern outcomes, see Geoff Lindsey’s discussion of CURE variation. These sources illustrate variation; the recommended forms above are our course choices.