Phonetics. Letters OU

Letters ou can be read absolutely differently. Letters ou are usually read as [au], for example, bounce; [Ↄ:], as in the word ‘dreadnought’ and as [ə], ‘hilarious’. Let’s look at each case of usage. And we try not to forget about exceptions.

Letters ou are usually read as [au].

out

outer

about

aloud

round

sound

ground

cloud

proud

sound

shout

drought

mountain

pronounce

But there are some exceptions. We should learn that ou can be read as [ʌ], look: … or it will be read [ʊ] as in the following words.

[ʌ]

country

courage

double

trouble

enough

[ʊ]

could

would

should

group

through

We should remember that before ‘ght’ it will be read as [Ↄ:]

bought

brought

nought

fought

thought

sought

ought

If there is no stress on ou it will be read as [ə]. Especially when it’s an adjective and ends with –ous.

famous

various

curious

serious

nervous

continuous

ambitious

dangerous

armour

parlour

labour

honour

moustache

conscious

So, today we learn that ou will be read as [au], as [Ↄ:] and as [ə]. And now we also know that there are some words where we read it as [ʌ] or [ʊ].

Let’s train our pronunciation now!

The best way to do it – using a tongue twister. I offer you one about a groundhog.

Do you guess what it is? If not, look at this! Let’s start than!

A groundhog would hog all the ground he could hog, if a groundhog could hog ground.

And now we will try to do it faster!

A groundhog would hog all the ground he could hog, if a groundhog could hog ground.

Or even more faster!

A groundhog would hog all the ground he could hog, if a groundhog could hog ground.