7 ways to pronounce 'OUGH'

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Today it's all about getting specific with pronunciation. You already know this,

English spelling and pronunciation they often don't match they... Sometimes letters

are silent like the s in island.

Sometimes a long word has a very short sound like: queue. Sometimes I don't know

what's going on with the spelling. This is spelled colonel, but it's pronounced,

Colonel. What? But today, it's all about the O U G H

pronunciation. We're going to look at seven different ways you can say that.

Number one O U G H sounds like uff. Enough, ruff, tuff. I've had enough food, I'm full.

My Mandarin isn't good enough to have a conversation. Mini grammar tip, we use

enough + noun adjective + enough. Remember that order. Rough. Rough is not

smooth, sand paper is, is rough. In informal English rough can also mean a

very difficult situation. You know Brian? Yeah. His mom and dad were both diagnosed

with cancer. That's rough. Tough, we use tough when something is very strong and

cannot easily be damaged. Blue jeans are tough. If you want to be a boxer, you need

to be tough. Tough can also mean difficult. I find English grammar really tough. It's

tough finding a job when you've just graduated. Enough, tough, rough. Number two:

O U G H like: uff.

Cough, trough. Now remember number one was enough,

tough, rough. Number two is off, cough trough. Cough is to... cough. I can't stop

coughing! I need a drink! Trough, this is a trough. No, those are

pigs. That, that's a trough. It's the container that animals feed and

eat from. Just like in the picture.

Cough, trough. Number three O U G H sounds like ooh. Through-through

is an adverb and preposition. It means passing from one location to another.

Usually through the middle, in the middle. We drove through a tunnel. Through.

Number four O U G H sounds like Oh. Though, dough, thorough,

thoroughly. Though is used to give contrast. I love traveling, I don't like

flying though. Dough. Dough is the stuff we use to make pizza, bread, cookies. I always

make my own pizza dough. Dough is also slang for money. How much dough you got?

Thorough. Thorough means complete. Detectives carry out a thorough

investigation of the crime scene. We also have that adverb thoroughly. The doctor

thoroughly examined her patient. Though, dough, thorough, thoroughly. Now for thorough

and thoroughly, let's compare American and British

pronunciation, because they're slightly different. I would say thorough but, with

a British accent you might say: thorough, thorough, thorough. I would say thoroughly but

again: thoroughly, thoroughly. Number five O U G H sounds like oh.

Thought, bought, fought. Thought is the past tense of think. I thought about you a lot

yesterday. Bought is a past tense of buy. When I was a teenager I bought a lot of nail

polish. Fought is the past tense of fight. Oh when we were younger my sister

and I fought like crazy. Again, let's compare two types of pronunciation.

Fought. Fought. Bought. Bought. Thought. Thought. Thought, bought, fought. Number six,

O U G H sounds like ow.

Drought, plough. A drought is a long period without rain. This is what happens when

there is a drought.

Plough. This is a plough of course in day-to-day English this word isn't very

common unless you're, you're a farmer. But, the phrasal verb plough through is very

useful. Oh? OUGH-OUGH? But two different

pronunciations: plough through - perfect. When we plow through something, we complete

something that's very difficult to do. Like a plough in a field.

I need to plough through all of this paperwork before noon.

Seven, O U G H sounds like cup. Hiccup. Now normally we spell this word hiccup, it

makes more sense. But, in many older English texts you still might see this

spelling: hiccough. But for you use the second spelling.

What's a hiccup? Hiccup is when you do this... I think you know what I mean,

it's difficult for me to actually do it! Drinking water too quickly gives me

hiccups. Wow, we've looked at seven different

ways to pronounce O U G H, let's review: Enough, rough, tough, cough,

trough, through, though, dough, thorough, thoroughly, thought, bought, fought, plough,

drought, hiccup. Thank you so much for watching today's video on O U G H. I can't

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