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.
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/
