The sounds "ough" can make | conditional sentences

Pronunciation Practice: How many sounds can "ough" make?

Some say six. Others will tell you seven. And for many from Great Britain, there are up to ten possible pronunciations!

In an article and video from Rachel's English, she covers seven different pronunciations for this combination of four letters.

Here below is one word for each possible pronunciation. Can you say these words correctly?

1/ although

2/ drought

3/ through

4/ bought

5/ cough

6/ enough

7/ hiccough (This is an alternate spelling of hiccup!)

Here are some other words that contain "ough." Which of the seven pronunciations above would you use to say each of them?

dough, ought, rough, though, thought, tough, bough, fought

Grammar: Conditional sentences and the subjunctive in English

Zero Conditional:

I usually walk to work. However, if it rains, I take the tram.

If you make coffee with an Aeropress, it always tastes good.

First Conditional:

If it rains, I’ll take the tram.

If she moves there, she’ll learn Spanish fast.

Second Conditional:

If she moved there, she’d learn Spanish fast.

If you found a bag of money on the ground, what would you do?

If she were older, she could drive.

Third Conditional:

If she’d been older, she could have driven.

If you had found a bag of money on the ground while you were in Las Vegas, what would you have done?

Which sentence above obviously contains a verb in the subjunctive?

What’s the difference between these two statements:

If it rains, I take a tram.

If it rains, I’ll take a tram.

Enrich Your Vocabulary | TOEFL Words: circumvent = bypass, get around

We circumvented the traffic by taking the alley.

My neighbor described her vacation at length to circumvent the awkward topic.

Super Advanced English