Six Ways to Spell the Long O Sound

blog home

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.

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
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.
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.
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.
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
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
blog home

Six Ways to Spell the Long O Sound

Recent Blogs

Curriculum...

Resources...

Help...