Sign inThe Letter O in American English
In this lesson, we will learn about all the sounds of the letter O. I hope you're still interested because we're about to learn about the fifteenth letter now.
The fifteenth letter of the English alphabet is 'O'. It is also the fourth vowel in the English language.
Vowels are sounds that are pronounced without any restriction in the vocal tract. It means we can produce it with the unrestricted flow of air.
| Uppercase Form | O |
|---|---|
| Lowercase | o |
| Name | o (pronounced /oʊ/) |
| Common Sounds | /ɑː/, /oʊ/, /uː/, /ʌ/, /ə/ |
The Letter O: Sounds
Vowels in the English language can have many many sounds. Here we will look at some of its common ones.
Common Sounds
Sound 1: /ɑː/
'o' sounds /ɑː/:
cl
st
m
Sound 2: /oʊ/
'o' also sounds /oʊ/:
potat
h
radi
Sound 3: /uː/
'o' can also sound /uː/:
t
m
l
Sound 4: /ʌ/
'o' also sounds /ʌ/:
m
s
Sound 5: /ə/
'o' sounds /ə/:
bac
lem
mirr
Other Sounds
Sound 6: /ʊ/
'o' sounds /ʊ/:
w
w
Sound 7: /wʌ/
'o' also sounds /wʌ/:
Tip
'o' can also sound /ɪ/ in the word 'women':
w
The Letter O: Multigraphs
'O' can also appear in combination with other letters (mainly vowels and sometimes consonants). They can create distinct vowels:
oo
'oo' mainly sounds /uː/:
t
br
sp
'oo' in the middle of words sounds /ʊ/:
f
h
b
'oo' also sounds /ʌ/ in some words:
bl
fl
'oo' can also sound /ɔ:/:
d
p
fl
oa
'oa' mainly sounds /oʊ/:
g
c
c
'oo' also sounds /ɑː/:
r
b
Sometimes, 'oa' sounds /ɑː/:
br
abr
oe
'oe' sounds /oʊ/:
d
h
t
'oe' at the end of words sounds /uː/:
sh
can
Tip
'oe' sounds /ʌ/in the word 'does':
d
'oe' sounds /iː/ in French loanwords:
ph
f
f
eo
'eo' sounds /ə/:
sturg
dung
pig
Tip
'eo' in the word
p
oi
'oi' sounds /ɔɪ/:
j
c
t
'oi' also sounds /ə/:
tort
porp
ou
'ou' in the middle of words has four sounds; the first one is /aʊ/:
h
cl
m
'ou' also sounds /ʌ/:
t
t
c
'ou' also sounds /uː/:
gr
s
y
'ou' also sounds /oʊ/:
sh
b
s
'ou' at the end of words sounds /ə/:
enorm
fam
'ou' also sounds /ʊ/ in the word tour and its combinations:
cont
t
t
Tip
'eou' in eous and 'iou' in ious sound /ə/:
outrag
contag
Warning
In the word 'cough', the letters 'ou' sound /ɑː/:
c
our
'our' mainly sounds /ɔːr/:
f
c
p
ough
'ough' sounds /aʊ/, in other words, 'gh' is silent in these cases:
dr
b
'ough' sounds /oʊ/ in some words:
alth
d
'ough' also sounds /ɑː/:
th
br
s
'ough' also sounds /oʊ/ or /ə/ if it is placed at the last syllable:
bor
ow
'ow' sounds /oʊ/:
wind
sn
b
'ow' also sounds /aʊ/:
c
t
oy
'oy' sounds /ɔɪ/:
t
r
or
'or' sounds /ɔːr/:
f
sc
st
'or' also sounds /ɜːr/:
w
w
w
Tip
'ot' at the last syllable of French loanwords sounds /əʊ/:
escarg
escarg
The Letter O: Uses
The letter 'o' is used as
The vocative case in titles, before a noun, usually capitalized; for example
'Zero' when saying phone numbers, etc. like:
The symbol for the chemical element
Comments
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