The Eight Spellings of Long O

The Eight Spellings of Long O The Eight Spellings of Long O The Eight Spellings of Long O By Maeve Maddox English is blessed with many homophones: one of two or more words pronounced alike but different in meaning or derivation or spelling (as all and awl; to, too, and two; rite, write, right, and wright) called also homonym (Merriam Webster Unabridged Dictionary) The sound of long o is especially rich in alternate spellings. Such spellings are best learned when we are children, before weve been around long enough to regard such facts of life as something to be complained about. Here are the eight spellings of long o. (not counting exceptions, of course.) o o says /Ã… / at the end of a syllable: so, go, open o+e Silent final e makes the o say /Ã… /: stone, throne, shone (Am.) ow The spelling ow can represent two sounds: /ow/ as in cow and /Ã… / as in show, slow, grow. ou The spelling ou can represent four sounds: /ow/ as in round, /Ã… / as in four, /oo/ as in you, and /Ã… ­/as in country. Note that the second sound of ou is long o. oo The spelling oo can represent three sounds: /oo/ as in boot, /à »/as in foot, and /Ã… / as in floor. oa This is the o of boat. oe This is o of toe ough Ah, yes. This is the most ridiculed of all English spellings, good old ough. This spelling can represent six different vowel (or semi-vowel) sounds. The good news is that once youve learned the following six words, youre home free: /Ã… / as in though /oo/ as in through /uf/ as in rough /awf/ as in cough /aw/ as in thought /ow/ as in bough Note that /Ã… / is the first sound of ough: though TIP: English spelling is not for sissies. It can, however, be mastered by people who use words for a living. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Cost-Effective vs. Cost-EfficientOne Fell SwoopMood vs. Tense