American English Sounds
  • Home
  • Vowels
    • VOWEL CHART
    • Front >
      • /iy/ (see, keep)
      • /ɪ/ (sit, pick)
      • /ey/ (take, name)
      • /ɛ/ (pet, tell)
      • /æ/ (sat, past)
    • Central >
      • /ɜr/ (church, nurse)
      • /ər/ (mother, surprise)
      • /ʌ/ (cup, must)
      • /ə/ (about, undo)
      • /ɑ/ (stop, job)
    • Back >
      • /ʊ/ (good, put)
      • /uw/ (food, soon)
      • /ɔ/ (bought, lost)
      • /ow/ (low, coat)
    • Diphthongs >
      • /ɑɪ/ (light, pie)
      • /ɑʊ/ (cow, loud)
      • /ɔɪ/ (boy, voice)
  • Consonants
    • CONSONANT CHART
    • Lips (Bilabial) >
      • /p/ (peace, price)
      • /b/ (buy, brain)
      • /m/ (map, time)
      • /w/ (wait, win)
    • Lips-Teeth (Labio-dental) >
      • /f/ (fix, friend)
      • /v/ (vase, love)
    • Tongue-Teeth (Dental) >
      • /θ/ (thank, bath)
      • /ð/ (this, breathe)
    • Tongue-Gum Ridge (Alveolar) >
      • /t/ (take, stand)
      • /d/ (day, drive)
      • /s/ (sit, race)
      • /z/ (zoo, these)
      • /l/ (less, sleep)
      • /n/ (nice, man)
    • Tongue-Palate (Palatal) >
      • /ʃ/ (push, show)
      • /ʒ/ (measure, vision)
      • /tʃ/ (choose, match)
      • /dʒ/ (juice, edge)
      • /r/ (rose, borrow)
      • /y/ (yes, young)
    • Tongue-Soft Palate (Velar) >
      • /k/ (kiss, cat)
      • /g/ (gas, green)
      • /ŋ/ (hang, long)
    • Throat (Glottal) >
      • /h/ (help, hand)
  • Resources
    • Pronunciation Vocabulary
    • For Students
    • For Instructors

/ɑʊ/

LISTEN

listen_to_-au-.mp3
File Size: 154 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

/ɑʊ/.../ɑʊ/.../ɑʊ/.../ɑʊ/...

cow...loud...found...tow​el

WHAT IS IT?

Pronunciation:
The sound /ɑʊ/ is a diphthong. This means your mouth should move from one position to another.
  • Lower your jaw and tongue, and make your lips very open and wide (as for /ɑ/). Your tongue should be low, tight, and pulled backwards.
  • Breathe out and let your vocal cords vibrate.
  • As you do this, quickly raise your tongue and move your lips into a small circle (as for /ʊ/).
​
stressed_-au-.mp3
File Size: 330 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

This vowel is usually stressed, as in these words:
  • power
  • loudly
  • about
unstressed_-au-.mp3
File Size: 305 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

However, /ɑʊ/ can also be unstressed, as in these words:
  • doghouse
  • turnout
  • ​outside

​Spelling:
  • "ow" - cow, brown
  • "ou" - about, found
  • "ough" (less common) - bough, drought

COMPARE

Compare /ɑʊ/ with /ɑ/:
compare_au-a_1.mp3
File Size: 416 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

/ɑʊ/.../ɑ/.../ɑʊ/.../ɑ/.../ɑʊ/.../ɑ/...

The sound /ɑ/ is a low, central vowel. The sound /ɑʊ/ starts as /ɑ/, but it moves quickly into a high, back vowel.

You can hear the difference between /ɑʊ/ and /ɑ/ in these words.

compare_au-a_words.mp3
File Size: 368 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

1. ​A. mouse, B. moss
2. A. bound, B. bond
3. A. pout, B. pot
4. A. our, B. are
5. A. mouth, B. moth
6. A. tower, B. tar​
​
Practice recognizing words with /ɑʊ/ and /ɑ/ by taking the quiz below.

Now compare /ɑʊ/​ with /ow/:
compare_au-ow_1.mp3
File Size: 595 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

/ɑʊ/​.../ow/.../ɑʊ/​.../ow/.../ɑʊ/​.../ow/...

The sound /ow/ is a mid, back vowel. The sound /ɑʊ/ starts as a low, central vowel but moves into a high, back vowel.

You can hear the difference between /ɑʊ/ and /ow/ in these words.

compare_au-ow_words.mp3
File Size: 361 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

1. A. out, B. oat​
2. A. rouse, B. rose
3. A. couch, B. coach
4. A. bowel, B. bowl
5. A. drown, B. drone
6. A. found, B. phoned

Practice recognizing words with /ɑʊ/ and /ow/ by taking the quiz below.

PRACTICE

words_-au-.mp3
File Size: 2105 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

Listen and repeat these words:
1. now
2. mouse
3. crowd
4. couch
5. outer
6. allow
7. brown
8. count
9. sound
10. vowel
11. shower
12. l
ou​dly
13. lounge
14. renowned
15. doghou​se
16. doubtless
17. pronou​nce 
18. powerful
19. coward
20. roundabout

​Now, practice /ɑʊ/ in sentences. Say the words first, then the sentences.
sentences_-au-.mp3
File Size: 3659 kb
File Type: mp3
Download File

1. how - about - now 
​How can you think about food right now?

2. encountered - crowd - outside
We encountered a large crowd outside.

3. scout - down - mountain
The scout led us down the mountain.

4. our - flowers - brown
Our flowers are turning brown.

5. allowed - loud - house
You're not allowed to play loud music in the house.

6. found - couch - lounge
I found him on the couch in the lounge.

​To practice with different varieties of English, choose another native English speaker by clicking one of the links below:
  • Male 1 (US Midwest - St Louis) - words, sentences
  • Male 2 (US Midwest - Iowa) - words, sentences
  • Male 3 (US Midwest) - words, sentences​
  • Female 1 (US Northeast) - words, sentences​​
  • Female 2 (US Southeast) - words, sentences

USE IT!

​​Practice the task below. Then, record yourself completing that task. Give your recording to a teacher or an English-speaking friend for feedback.

​Prepare:
Which of these things do you do when you need to figure out ​(solve) a problem?
​
  • Outline what you know and don’t know 
  • Pout about it
  • Sit and think about it for an hour
  • Allow other people to help you
  • Calm down
  • Imagine the worst possible outcome
  • Think aloud
  • Write about it in a journal​
  • Leave your house and walk around
  • Doubt your ability to solve the problem​
  • Outline what you know and don’t know 
  • Pout about it
  • Sit and think about it for an hour
  • Allow other people to help you
  • Calm down​
  • Imagine the worst possible outcome
  • Think aloud
  • Write about it in a journal​
  • Leave your house and walk around
  • Doubt your ability to solve the problem​

​Record:
​Imagine you're giving advice to a friend about how to solve a problem. In your recording, explain 2 things your friend should do and 1 thing your friend should not do.


©2018-2021, Christine Wingate
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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  • Home
  • Vowels
    • VOWEL CHART
    • Front >
      • /iy/ (see, keep)
      • /ɪ/ (sit, pick)
      • /ey/ (take, name)
      • /ɛ/ (pet, tell)
      • /æ/ (sat, past)
    • Central >
      • /ɜr/ (church, nurse)
      • /ər/ (mother, surprise)
      • /ʌ/ (cup, must)
      • /ə/ (about, undo)
      • /ɑ/ (stop, job)
    • Back >
      • /ʊ/ (good, put)
      • /uw/ (food, soon)
      • /ɔ/ (bought, lost)
      • /ow/ (low, coat)
    • Diphthongs >
      • /ɑɪ/ (light, pie)
      • /ɑʊ/ (cow, loud)
      • /ɔɪ/ (boy, voice)
  • Consonants
    • CONSONANT CHART
    • Lips (Bilabial) >
      • /p/ (peace, price)
      • /b/ (buy, brain)
      • /m/ (map, time)
      • /w/ (wait, win)
    • Lips-Teeth (Labio-dental) >
      • /f/ (fix, friend)
      • /v/ (vase, love)
    • Tongue-Teeth (Dental) >
      • /θ/ (thank, bath)
      • /ð/ (this, breathe)
    • Tongue-Gum Ridge (Alveolar) >
      • /t/ (take, stand)
      • /d/ (day, drive)
      • /s/ (sit, race)
      • /z/ (zoo, these)
      • /l/ (less, sleep)
      • /n/ (nice, man)
    • Tongue-Palate (Palatal) >
      • /ʃ/ (push, show)
      • /ʒ/ (measure, vision)
      • /tʃ/ (choose, match)
      • /dʒ/ (juice, edge)
      • /r/ (rose, borrow)
      • /y/ (yes, young)
    • Tongue-Soft Palate (Velar) >
      • /k/ (kiss, cat)
      • /g/ (gas, green)
      • /ŋ/ (hang, long)
    • Throat (Glottal) >
      • /h/ (help, hand)
  • Resources
    • Pronunciation Vocabulary
    • For Students
    • For Instructors