Get more English Lessons at EXLenglish.com and Youtube.com/c/EXLenglish

How To Pronounce Words Written With ‘OUGH’ Correctly In English? Watch the vídeo about ‘OUGH’ here or the full lesson on the blog

Originally, Anglo-Saxon words were written with the letter 'H' to indicate a 'voiceless velar

fricative' in words like 'Bach'.2 In the 13th century with the invasion of the French and their

influence in the English language...a letter 'G' was added to the letter 'H' to represent this

sound.4 And then, in the 17th century this voiceless velar fricative began to change. In a few

words, the sound completely disappeared (as in the words "through" and "bought") In other

words, the sound 'voiceless velar fricative' was converted into a 'voiceless labiodental fricative'

(between the teeth) that now sounds like the letter 'F' in words like 'cough' and 'enough'.5

Watch the video to practice your pronunciation here >>>

Pronunciation #1: OUGH /oʊ/ (Long O) Pronunciadas como o som long da letra ‘O’ em palavras como 'toe‘, ‘no’ or ‘go’

Dough - I love mixing bread dough

Furlough - The missionaries are home on furlough

Though - I like it even though it smells weird

Thorough - He always does a thorough job

Although - I understand. Although I don’t think it’s a very good excuse

Pronunciation #2: OUGH /uː/ (Long U) Pronounced with the ‘Long U’ (oo) sound in words like ‘too’, ‘threw’, or ‘shoe’

Through - It was too big to fit through the door

Throughout - He puked several times throughout the day

Throughput - They spend the day trying to measure throughput on the server

Throughway - An accident prevented us from getting on the throughway

Pronunciation #3: OUGH /ɔː/ (AW sound) Regularly used before the letter /t/ (One exception in the word ‘Drought’)

Bought - I bought a new house last year

Brought - She brought me some coffee

Ought - You ought to go with them

Sought - They sought new ways to increase productivity

Thought - He thought she was nuts

Wrought - It wrought a terrible plague

Get more English Lessons at EXLenglish.com and Youtube.com/c/EXLenglish

Pronunciation #4: OUGH /aʊ/ (OW sound) Pronounced with the 'Ow' sound in words like 'cow‘, ‘now’ or ‘how’

Bough - The bough fell off during the storm

Plough - He hates to plough his farm

Drought - They suffered a severe drought

Pronunciation #5: OUGH /ɒf/ (Off) Pronounced with the ‘Off' sound in words like ‘scoff‘ or ‘stroganoff’

Cough - She was coughing all afternoon

Trough - The horses drank from the trough

Pronunciation #6: OUGH /ʌf/ (Uff) Pronounced as ‘uff’ in words like ‘cuff’, ‘stuff’ or ‘buff’

Enough - That’s enough for today

Rough - It was a rough game

Slough - He always sloughs off on the job

Tough - She is one tough boss

Watch the video above to hear the pronunciation of OUGH of each of these six sounds, the

vocabulary words and phrases. Use the video to practice your pronunciation of these sounds in

English.

Bibliography

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ough_(orthography)

2. http://www.howtospell.co.uk/gh-words

3. https://www.quora.com/Pronunciation/How-did-gh-at-the-end-ofsome-words-become-an-

eff-sound

4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ-g8iF3Fdk

5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ-g8iF3Fdk

More ESL Info on ‘OUGH’

http://rachelsenglish.com/pronounce-ough/

http://www.pronuncian.com/Podcast/Default.aspx?Episode=205

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/intermediate/unit-9/session-1