Like some other vowel letters described before, "o" can be pronounced in several ways, sometimes depending on whether the word contains a double consonant letter, a silent or 'magic' "-e" or if the "o" is in an unstressed syllable.
Ex. 1
Put the following words into categories depending on the pronunciation of the letter "o", sometimes including adjacent letters.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (a film), one, lot, tore, come, sore, spot, some, shore, cot, more, none, job, done, core, tore, jot, dozen, shot, doll, dock, mock, frock, owl, role, consider, cowl, roll, contain, dole, contract (noun), contract (verb), How now, brown cow?, hole, other, lose, joke, coke, broke, rose, another, pose, women, propose
1. /ɒ/ 2. /ʌ/ 3. /ɔː/ 4. /əʊ/ 5. /aʊ/ 6. /ə/ 7. /uː/ 8. /ɪ/
Ex. 2 Are these pairs of words pronounced the same?
a. none - nun sore - soar bored - board come - comb
b. ore - oar lot - loot sod - soared loft - laughed
Key
Ex. 1
1. /ɒ/ lock, stock, lot, spot, cot, job, jot, shot, doll, dock, mock, frock, contract (n)
2. /ʌ/ one /wʌn/, come, some, none, done, dozen, other, another
3. /ɔː/ tore, sore, shore, more, core, tore
4. /əʊ/ smoking, role, roll, dole, hole, joke, coke, broke, rose, pose, propose
5. /aʊ/ owl, cowl, how, now, brown, cow
6. /ə/ consider, contain, contract (v)
7. /uː/ lose, two
8. /ɪ/ women
Ex. 2 a. yes, yes, yes, no b. yes, no, no, no
