Spelling list: au words

In English, the letter combination au often represents the /or/ sound when it falls at the beginning or in the middle of a word. Some common words with this pattern include launch, autumn, and fault. The au spelling is never used if the /or/ sound is at the end of a word.

Be cautious of similar sounds that have different spellings, such as all or call, as well as words that use the or, ore, and aw spelling patterns to spell the /or/ sound.

Regular use of the spelling activities and exposure to words spelt with the letters au will help you become a proficient speller.

sauce	I had pasta and tomato sauce for supper. *
haul	An old cart horse was used to haul the load.
maul	The tiger will maul you.
paul	Paul rode his bike every day.
daub	The artist liked to daub paint on his canvas.
taut	The tent ropes must be taut.
fraud	Bill was charged with fraud. *
cause	A tornado can cause huge devastation. *
pause	Hit the pause button to stop the video clip.
fault	She helpfully fixed the fault on my computer.
vault	The bank stores its gold in a deep vault.
daunt	The thought of exams began to daunt me.
gaunt	She ate so little, she began to look gaunt. *
haunt	A ghost wanted to haunt the house. *
jaunt	Let's go on a jaunt to the beach.
launch	A space probe was launched yesterday.
paunch	He had a paunch from eating too much.
staunch	He was a staunch believer in god.
August	It was extremely hot last August.