GH Words: cough, trough, ought to, wrought

Written ‘gh’ has no sound of its own.
It’s never pronounced as it’s written, i.e. /gh/.
Sometimes written ‘gh’ is even pronounced /f, g, p/.

cough … trough … ought to … wrought
/kɔf/ … /trɔf/ … /ˈɔ-də/ … /rɔt/

cough … coughing
/kɔf/ … /ˈkɔ–fɪŋ/

The girl has a bad cough.
She can’t stop coughing.

ought to … cough medicine
/ˈɔ–də/ … /ˈkɔf–mɛ–də–sɪn/

She ought to get some cough medicine.

a watering trough
/əˈwɔ–dɚ–ɪŋ–ˈtrɔf/

The horse is drinking from a watering trough.

a peak and a trough
/əˈpiy–kən–də-ˈtrɔf/

A business cycle has a peak and a trough.

ought to
/ˈɔ-də/

There ought to be a better way.

ought to
/ˈɔ–də/

You look awful.  You ought to go back to bed.

wrought iron
/ˈrɔ–da–yɚn/

A blacksmith works with wrought iron.

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Note:
“Wrought” is an archaic form of the verb “to work,”
so “wrought iron” means “worked iron.”

wrought iron
/ˈrɔ–da–yɚn/

What a spectacular wrought iron gate!

And now it’s your turn.
2 audio pronunciation quizzes
Quiz #1:  Spelling /f, g, p/

1. 

When you have a cold, sometimes you also have a _________.

cough /f/

cough /g/

cough /p/

2. 

What goes great with a hamburger? a _________ pickle.

gherkin /f/

gherkin /g/

gherkin /p/

3. 

That book costs 10 dollars but I have only 8 dollars. That's not_________.

enough /f/

enough /g/

enough /p/

4. 

Farm animals drink from a water _________.

trough /f/

trough /g/

trough /p/

5. 

Who doesn't like to eat _________!

spaghetti /f/

spaghetti /g/

spaghetti /p/

6. 

I work hard; I don't _________.

slough off /f/

slough off /g/

slough off /p/

7. 

The road wasn't smooth; it was _________.

rough /f/

rough /g/

rough /p/

8. 

When something is funny, you usually _________.

laugh /f/

laugh /g/

laugh /p/

9. 

Kabul is the capital of _________.

Afghanistan /f/

Afghanistan /g/

Afghanistan /p/

10. 

Caspar is the name of a friendly _________.

ghost /f/

ghost /g/

ghost /p/

11. 

Why are you blowing into a paper bag? I have the _________ .

hiccoughs /f/

hicccoughs /g/

hiccoughs /p/

12. 

She saw something horrible. She was _________.

aghast /f/

aghast /g/

aghast /p/

Time's up

Quiz #2:  Vocabulary

1. 

The steak was overcooked and _________.

cough

trough

rough

tough

2. 

He has a persistent _________, as well as a fever.

cough

trough

rough

tough

3. 

She was as _________ as nails.

cough

trough

rough

tough

4. 

The questions on that test were really _________. I knew only three of them.

cough

trough

rough

tough

5. 

The lowest point of an economic cycle is called a _________.

cough

trough

rough

tough

6. 

We traveled for miles and miles over _________ dirt roads.

cough

trough

rough

tough

7. 

A farm has a watering _________ and a feeding _________ for its animals.

cough

trough

rough

tough

8. 

I've just started writing a research paper. My _________ draft isn't very good, so I really need to do a lot more work.

cough

trough

rough

tough

9. 

When we say that someone is "_________ around the edges," that means a person isn't as refined as we think that person should be.

cough

trough

rough

tough

10. 

There's an old saying: "When the going gets _________ , the _________ get going." That means when things are difficult, we have to work even harder.

cough

trough

rough

tough

Time's up

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