In English there are many words ending with –ough, which are pronounced very differently. Listen to the teacher say these words aloud and notice how they are pronounced. Now, work in pairs. Pronounce these words out loud and put them in the correct boxes given below. | Sounds like 'oo' | Sounds like 'off' | Sounds like 'o' | Sounds like 'ow' | Sounds like 'aw' |
Sounds like 'oo': through, you Sounds like 'off': cough, trough, enough, rough Sounds like 'o': though, dough Sounds like 'ow': bough, plough Sounds like 'aw': thought, bought, brought
Explanation
This pronunciation exercise teaches students that words ending in '-ough' can have different pronunciations. Examples: 'through' rhymes with 'blue' (oo sound), 'cough' rhymes with 'off', 'though' has the 'o' sound, 'bough' rhymes with 'cow' (ow sound), and 'thought' has the 'aw' sound. The story contains words like 'though,' 'enough,' 'through,' 'rough,' 'cough,' 'trough,' 'ploughed,' 'bough,' 'tough,' and 'dough.'