How to pronounce words like audio, awesome, awful | English Spelling Patterns

This is not 'aw-dio' and this is not 'ow-some', but both vowel

letters actually represent one vowel sound, and that is /ɑ/.

Hey everyone, it's Hadar.

Thank you so much for joining me.

Today, we are going to talk about how to pronounce words that have the

AU or AW letters in the spelling.

As you know, English is not a phonetic language.

And when you see those two letters, it doesn't necessarily

represent the sound /æʊ/.

So this is not 'aw-dio'.

And this is not 'ow-some', but both vowel letters actually represent

one vowel sound, and that is /ɑ/.

Now, first let's talk about the pronunciation of this sound.

This sound is an open back vowel sound.

To make this sound, you want to drop your jaw, ah, relax your lips,

ah, and it actually sounds very similar to the /ɑ/ as in 'father'.

Author.

Author.

Now, this is one pronunciation of the sound.

But in some dialects, especially on the East Coast in the US, you will notice

that this sound is a bit more rounded.

So, instead of /ˈɑ.θəɹ/, you will hear /ˈɔ.θəɹ/.

So the lips are a bit more rounded.

/ˈɔ.θəɹ/.

Whether you choose to pronounce it as /ɑ/: author, daughter, or /ɔ/:

author, daughter, it doesn't matter.

Choose whatever is easier for you, as long as you make it the

same sound and there isn't a shift there from one sound to another.

A shift that you might be making because you see two vowel letters,

and you might want to pronounce each of them differently.

So, not /'oʊ.θəɹ/ or /loʊ/, but /ˈɑ.θəɹ/ and /lɑ:/.

So you want to drop your jaw.

The back of the tongue is raised a little bit, the lips are slightly rounded.

/ˈɔ.θəɹ/.

You can also pronounce it as a more neutral sound, like the 'ah' in 'father'.

/ˈɑ.θəɹ/.

Choose whatever is easier for you, just keep it one sound.

/ɑ/: author, daughter.

Not 'dow-ter', there isn't a shift here.

'ow' - 'ah'.

Daughter.

Daughter.

Audience.

Audience.

Authentic.

Authentic.

Caught.

Drop your jaw, keep the sound consistent.

Caught.

Caught.

Not 'cowt', this is coat.

Caught.

And taught.

Same thing with the AW spelling.

Here, it's even more confusing because the W feels like you should

be pronouncing an 'uw' sound, like you would for the word 'why' and 'we'.

But actually there is no 'w' sound, it just represents the exact same sound.

Law /lɔ/, not 'low', /lɔ/.

/ɔ/: awful.

And like I said, you can even relax your lips and pronounce it more

like an open /ɑ/ sound: awful, law.

If you can't hear the difference, don't worry about it.

Both of them are very, very similar.

Like I said, just open your mouth and make the sound a little longer.

Awful.

Awesome.

That is so awesome.

Paw.

Jaw.

And raw.

Raw food, not 'row', raw.

All right, that's it.

Now I have a task for you.

Take one of the words mentioned in the video, say it out loud 30 times

with the correct pronunciation, and then come up with 3-4 sentences

with this word and say it out loud.

That is the best way to practice a new word and to practice a new pronunciation

of a word that you know and that you've been using, but maybe you have been

pronouncing it a little differently.

That's the way to change it.

Okay?

So let me know how you're doing in the chat.

And if you want more resources and more exercises to practice your

pronunciation so you can speak English with clarity, confidence, and freedom,

check out my website at hadarshemesh.com for a ton of resources for you.

Have a beautiful, beautiful rest of the day, and I will see you

next week in the next video.

Bye.