The same ough letters can sound different

1 · Learn

Read though, through and rough with an adult. They all contain ough, but the letter string does not have one fixed sound. Though commonly rhymes with go; through with blue; rough with stuff. Learn each whole word alongside its meaning and pronunciation.

Thought rhymes with bought. Cough commonly rhymes with off, and plough with cow. Enough has the ending sound heard in rough; dough commonly rhymes with go. Thorough and borough have another unstressed ending in many British accents. Accents can change the sounds, so listen to your adult or a reliable dictionary recording without assuming your home accent is wrong.

2 · Worked example

In 'We walked through the gate', through means from one side to the other. I hear a sound like blue but still write t-h-r-o-u-g-h. In 'The track was rough', rough describes an uneven surface and ends like stuff. Copying one pronunciation rule from through would not work for rough.

3 · Your turn

Match through, though and rough to blue, go and stuff. Explain why all three keep ough even though they sound different. Use though and through in separate sentences.

4 · Apply your learning

Make small word families by sound using thought/bought, rough/tough/enough and though/dough. Include an odd-one-out such as through, explain the difference and practise the complete spellings across several days.