Get Short U Spelled Ou

What are short 'u' sound words? Some examples of short 'u' sound words include: jump, mug, sun, duck, bus, umbrella, drum, truck, hut, gum, cut, mud, and cup.

Vowel Phonemes - 'ou'

When you hear /ow/ at the end of a word or syllable, use ow (cow, now, pow/er, show/er). When you hear /ow/ at the start of, or inside a word or syllable, use ou (ounce, house, loud). BUT: If the word rhymes with down (frown, clown, town) or owl (howl, towel, growl) we usually use ow.

Digraphs that spell vowel sounds include the letter pairs ai, ay, ee, ea, ie, ei, oo, ou. ow, oe, oo, ue, ey, ay, oy, oi, au, aw. The important thing to remember is that a digraph is made of two letters, and although the letters spell a sound, the digraph is the two letters, not the sound.

OU says /ü/ in only three words: would, should, and could. It says its other sounds, /ow/ as in house, / / as in soul, /ö/ as in group, and / / as in country, in far more words.

When you hear the /ow/ sound at the beginning or in the middle of a syllable, it is usually spelled ou. When you hear the /ow/ sound at the end of a syllable, it is usually spelled ow. For ou, this holds true very consistently.

This is not the long (o) sound heard in snow, although it is spelled exactly the same. This sound has two spelling patterns, (ow) (ou). These vowel combinations (ow, ou) are diphthongs when they have the variant vowel sound as heard in cow and house.

The 'Long Vowel' Sounds The /oa,( )/ sound found in the words: boat, hotel, toe and bone. The /oi,( I)/ sound found in the words: boy, coin and buoy.

OU says /ü/ in only three words: would, should, and could. It says its other sounds, /ow/ as in house, / / as in soul, /ö/ as in group, and / / as in country, in far more words.