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The Pronunciation Lounge

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Seven ways to pronounce 'ough'

Episode 250904 / 04 Sep 2025

Free worksheet and transcript

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Different ways to pronounce the 'ough' letter combination 

1. /ʌf/, rhymes with 'stuff'. Examples: 

  • enough
  • rough 
  • tough 

2. /ɒf/, rhymes with 'off'. Examples: 

  • cough 
  • trough 

3. /əʊ/, rhymes with 'toe'. Examples: 

  • although 
  • though 
  • dough 

4. /aʊ/, rhymes with 'how'. Examples:

  • plough 
  • drought 

5. /ɔː/, rhymes with 'four'. Examples:

  • thought
  • bought 
  • nought
  • brought 
  • sought
  • fought 
  • ought

6. /uː/, rhymes with 'zoo'. Examples:

  • through 

7. /ə/, the schwa. Examples:

  • thorough 
  • borough 

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To do

Practise by using the worksheet on this page. The clip we heard came from an episode of Job Applications - discover the series.

Next

Do you want to learn about connected speech? Try Tim's Pronunciation Workshop. 

For different ways to pronounce the letter 't', try this episode of The Pronunciation Lounge: Three ways to pronounce the letter 't'. 

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