Eva Easton

The Music of English

rough … tough … enough … slough

I wonder how an American pronounces…

rough … tough … enough … slough
/rʌf/ …  /tʌf/ … /ɪ–ˈnʌf/ … /slʌf/

We have 4 words in English with written ough  = /ʌ/ + silent gh + /f/

a.  rough  /rʌf/
b.  tough  /tʌf/
c.  enough  /ɪ-ˈnʌf/
d.  slough  /slʌf/

 


rough
/rʌf/

Tree bark is not smooth; it’s rough.

 

rough … tough
/rʌf/ … /tʌf/

He’s a rough and tough cowboy.

 

tough
/tʌf/

He has a tough job.

 

tough
/tʌf/

What is the meaning of life?
Now, that’s a tough question to answer.

 

enough
/ɪ-ˈnʌf/

I hope there is enough for everyone.

 

sloughs off
/slʌf-ˈsɔf/

When our skin sloughs off, we put cream on it.

 

slough off
/slʌ-ˈfəf/

My boss and my wife don’t like it when I slough off.

 

For more irregular words pronounced /ʌ/:

1 written o = /ʌ/ [link]

month … months [link]

 

 

month … months

I wonder how an American pronounces…

month … months
/mʌnθ/ … /mʌnt͡s/

 


months
/mʌnt͡s/

How many months are there in a year?
There are 12 months in a year.

 

month
/mʌnθ/

What is your favorite month of the year?

 

month
/mʌnθ/

Can you guess what my favorite month is?

 

month
/mʌnθ/

What is my least favorite month?

 

month
/mʌnθ/

In what month does your school year begin?

 

months …  country
/mʌnt͡s/ … /ˈkʌn–triy/

How many months do children in your country go to school?

 

For more irregular words in this pronunciation category:

1 written o = /ʌ/ [link]

rough … tough … enough … slough [link]

 

5. written o = /ʌ/

How many ways do we pronounce written single o?
You will find out little by little each week.

1.  /a/
2.  /ow/
3.  /aw/
4.  /ɔ/
5.  /ʌ/

 

There are only a few groups of words with
1 written o = /ʌ/.

They are, however, everyday words,
so it’s important to learn their pronunciation.


glove … love … shove
/glʌv/ … /lʌv/ … /ʃʌv/

come …some
/kʌm/ … /sʌm/

one … done … none …
/wʌn/ … /dʌn/ … /nʌn/

Note:  usually o + silent e = /ow/
home /howm/

 

won … son … ton
/wʌn/ … /sʌn/ … /tʌn/

does … dozen
/dʌz/ …  /ˈdʌ-zɪn/

I need to get a dozen eggs.
/ay-ˈniy-də-gɛ-də-ˈdə–zɪ–nɛgz/

 

once …. won … one
/wʌns/ … /wʌn/ … /wʌn/

I once competed at the state fair.
/ay-wʌns-kəm-ˈpiy-dɪ-dæ-ðə-steyt-ˈfɛ-ɚ/

I only won one ribbon, but it was first place.
/a-yown-liy-ˈwʌn–wʌn-ˈrɪ-bɪn-bʌ-dɪt-wəz-ˈfɚst-pleys/

 

country … cousin
/ˈkʌn-triy/ … /ˈkʌ-zɪn/

The U.S. is a big country.
/ðə-yu-ˈwɛs-ɪ-zə-ˈbɪg-ˈkʌn–triy/

 

couple … double … trouble
/ˈkʌ-pəl/ … /ˈdʌ-bəl/ … /ˈtrʌ-bəl/

These raccoons like to cause trouble.
/ðiyz-ræ-ˈkuwnz-layk-tə-kawz-ˈtrʌ–bəl/

 

For more irregular words pronounced /ʌ/:

month … months [link]

rough … tough … enough … slough [link]

Note:

These two symbols are the same sound:  /ʌ/ … /ə/
We just say stressed /ʌ/ more strongly than unstressed /ə/

When you use a dictionary and you see the symbol /ʌ/,
you know that the sound is stressed.

 

cough … trough … ought to … wrought

I wonder how an American pronounces…

cough … trough … ought to … wrought
/kɔf/ … /trɔf/ … /ˈɔ-də/ … /rɔt/

 The last 4 irregular words with written
ough  = /ɔ/ + silent gh

a.  cough  /kɔf/
b.  trough  /trɔf/
c.  ought to  /ˈɔ–də/
d.  wrought  /rɔt/

 

cough … coughing
/kɔf/ … /ˈkɔ–fɪŋ/

The girl has a bad cough.
She can’t stop coughing.

 

ought to … cough medicine
/ˈɔ–də/ … /ˈkɔf–mɛ–də–sɪn/

She ought to get some cough medicine.

 

a watering trough
/əˈwɔ–dɚ–ɪŋ–ˈtrɔf/

The horse is drinking from a watering trough.

 

a peak and a trough
/əˈpiy–kən–də-ˈtrɔf/

A business cycle has a peak and a trough.

 

ought to
/ˈɔ–də/

There ought to be a better way.

 


ought to
/ˈɔ–də/

You look awful.  You ought to go back to bed.

 

wrought iron
/ˈrɔ–da–yɚn/

A blacksmith works with wrought iron.

Note:
“Wrought” is an archaic form of the verb “to work,”
so “wrought iron” means “worked iron.”

 

wrought iron
/ˈrɔ–da–yɚn/

What a spectacular wrought iron gate!

 

 

 

bought … brought … caught … fought … sought … taught … thought

I wonder how an American pronounces…

bought … brought … caught … fought … sought … taught … thought
/bɔt/ …  /brɔt/ …  /kɔt/ …  /fɔt/ …  /sɔt/ …  /tɔt/ …  /θɔt/

 


The past tense of these 7 verbs is written augh or ough =
/ɔ/ + silent gh + stop /t|/

bring … brought
buy … bought
catch … caught
fight … fought
seek … sought
teach … taught
think … thought

This blog post explains = stop /t|/ [link]

 

bought
/bɔt|/

He bought himself a new tv.

 

brought
/brɔt|/

The little girl brought some food for the birds.

 

caught
/kɔt|/

She caught a cold.

 

fought
/fɔt|/

The kids fought on the playground.

 

sought
/sɔt|/

She sought advice from a friend.

 

taught
/tɔt|/

His dad taught him how to swim.

 

thought
/θɔt|/

She walked alone and thought about everything.


Spelling Secret
for these 7 irregular gh verbs

Group 1:

a in the base form = write a in the past tense
catch … caught
teach … taught

Group 2:

no a in the base form = write o in the past tense
bring … brought
buy … bought
catch … caught
fight … fought
think … thought

For more about /ɔ/,
check this blog post. [link]