Sow and sew
Is there any difference between the pronunciation of these two words? I know that they have different meanings, but it's really weird to think they sound almost the same. If we think about other words with almost the same words, we don't find a pattern which we can follow in order to pronounce these words properly.

For example: new, few, crew, pew, mew, blew, threw.

In all of them the U sound is proheminent. But when it comes to "sew", it sounds like an O, which is really weird to speak. Everytime I think about this word I can't help but thinking that's something strange to pronounce.

Question

Sow and sew
Is there any difference between the pronunciation of these two words? I know that they have different meanings, but it's really weird to think they sound almost the same. If we think about other words with almost the same words, we don't find a pattern which we can follow in order to pronounce these words properly.

For example: new, few, crew, pew, mew, blew, threw.

In all of them the U sound is proheminent. But when it comes to "sew", it sounds like an O, which is really weird to speak. Everytime I think about this word I can't help but thinking that's something strange to pronounce.

Answer

To complicate the matter even more, the word "sow" has another meaning, and another pronunciation.  A "sow" is an adult, female hog.  In this meaning, "sow" rhymes with the words "now" and "cow."

So sow can sound like sew, but now we know that sow can also rhyme with cow.  Wow!

Answer

Vitor, try also bough, cough, dough, Gough, Loughborough, nought and rough, and have fun with all the erudite and amusing people here.

Answer

Yes, you are quite right. 'So' and 'sew' are indeed homophones.

You're also right that the spelling of 'sew' is irregular. I'm fairly sure that it's the only word we have which is spelt 'ew' but pronounced 'oh'. As you correctly say, most other words ending in 'ew' are pronounced 'oo'.

Answer

You're very correct. Welcome to the strange world of English. Sew is pronounced the same as sow or so. They all sound exactly the same when spoken. Context will clarify which word the speaker means.
I had to sew a button on my shirt.
The farmer has to sow seeds next week to get a good crop.
I got a bad grade on my test so my parents are making me stay home and study.