Six Ways to Spell the Long O Sound

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A few weeks ago we looked at seven common ways of spelling the long /e/ sound. Scroll down to read about six ways of spelling the long /o/ sound. Please note the pronunciation of some of the example words may vary depending on accent.

  1. Just the Letter O
    In some cases, the long /o/ sound is spelled with just the letter o. These are often but not always words that are more than one syllable long.

    Here are some examples of long /o/ words spelled with just the letter o:
    • oval
    • hotel
    • program
    • total
    • yoga
    • no
    • ago
    • gecko
       
  2. O – E Words
    A very common way of spelling the long /o/ sound is with an o in the middle of the word and an e at the end of the word.

    Here are some examples of long /o/ words spelled with an o in the middle of the word and an e at the end:
    • rose
    • globe
    • whole
    • quote
    • consoole
    • hormone
    • impose
    • envelope

    You can practise spelling o – e words here and here.

  3. OA Words
    A next most common way of spelling the long /o/ sound is with the letters oa.

    Here are some examples of the long/o/ sound spelled with the letters oa:
    • poach
    • bloat
    • coal
    • soap
    • groan
    • encroach
    • toast
    • croak

    You can practise spelling oa words here.

  4. OW Words
    Some words spell the long /e/ sound with the letters ow. In these words, the long /o/ sound usually appears at the end of the word.

    Here are some examples of long /o/ words spelled with letters ow:
    • row
    • snow
    • borrow
    • elbow
    • hollow
    • meadow
    • swallow
    • window
    • tomorrow

    You can practise spelling ow words here.

  5. OE Words
    Occasionally, at the end of a word, the long /o/ sound is spelled with the letters oe.

    Here are some examples of long /e/ words spelled with letters oe:
    • toe
    • foe
    • doe
    • roe
    • woe
    • oboe
    • aloe
       
  6. OUGH Words
    The letters ough are used to spell many sounds including the long /o/ sound/.

    Here are some examples of long /o/ words spelled with letters ough
    • dough
    • though
    • although

You can learn more about the ough words in Unit 17 and practise spelling ough words here.

If you’d like to learn more about spelling long /o/ sounds, have a look at Unit 7 on our online spelling course.

Subscribe to Spellzone for extra tips and plenty of practice.

Have a good week!


08 Nov 2016
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One of the students has put in a huge amount of effort in completing Spellzone at least 3 times a week since his arrival with us in January. Looking at his scores after the latest GL testing, his standardised score has risen from 99 to 131. This is a truly phenomenal result. I just wanted to share the best result I have ever seen.

Terrie Penrose-Toms, Casterton College

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