4. Now go

Ejercicio Resuelto

Let's study two English diphthongs: /aʊ/ and /əʊ/.

Although they are not difficult to pronounce, you must learn their common spellings, which are sometimes a bit confusing.

  • For instance, the diphthong /aʊ/ often appears in spellings 'ou', such as in 'house' or 'loud'.
  • /əʊ/ is, for example, the sound for 'oak', 'joke', 'so' or 'slow'.
  • Words such as 'pause' or 'dawn' are pronounced /ɔː/.

Try to put these words in their correct column. If you need any help, you can ask Alice.

goat, law, no, mouth, now, thought

/aʊ/ /əʊ/
other

Importante

Pay attention to how these two diphthongs are pronounced by looking and listening carefully to these two videos.

/aʊ/

/əʊ/

Para saber más

There is a really useful website to learn about different diphthongs in English and their pronunciation. Click here to visit the site! Don't miss it!

Ejercicio Resuelto

Do you remember the song 'I will survive' from the second section? Listen to it again and decide the appropriate column for these words from the song:

now, around, to, thought, broken, so, without, no, hold, drop, love, how, know, down

/aʊ/ /əʊ/
other

Comprueba lo aprendido

Pregunta

What diphthong do these words contain? Ask Alice if you need any help.

Imagen en Flickr de wstera2 bajo CC

1. gown

Respuestas

a)/aʊ/

b)/əʊ/

c) other

Retroalimentación

Pregunta

2. trout

Respuestas

a)/aʊ/

b)/əʊ/

c) other

Retroalimentación

Pregunta

3. go

Respuestas

a)/aʊ/

b)/əʊ/

c) other

Retroalimentación

Now practice your English in the last section! Well done!