 How do you spell the O sound in English? This video is brought to you by ESLgold.com and Spelletics. We're here to give you some help with the complicated spellings of English sounds. Our approach starts with the sounds, not the letters in the alphabet. Audio first, visual later. This video is designed for adult and teenage learners of English. If you would like to see the fun children's version, please click on the link in the description below. How do you spell the O sound in English? Seems like a silly question, doesn't it? Well, it isn't. There are actually nine ways to spell this sound. Nine ways. Let's learn them all. Let's start with the most common ones. O is quite a popular sound in English and most other languages. There are many ways to spell this sound. Number one, O alone. The O sound is commonly spelled with the letter O alone. The spelling occurs at the end, middle, and beginning of words. Ending, middle, beginning. Go, so, no. Most, cold, hold. Over, omit, ogre. O alone. Let's go. Let's go. It's getting cold. Oh, no. Oh, no. I'm getting old. Two, oe. A common spelling at the ends of words is oe, toe, foe, ho, joe, doe. Joe hit his toe with a ho. Poor Joe. Three, oa. The oa spelling occurs mostly in the middle of words. For example, boat, toast, road, coal. I hit the road and drove from coast to coast. Next time I think I'll go by boat. Oa. Occasionally, you will see the oa spelling at the beginning or end of words. But this spelling is most commonly used in the middle. Oak, oats, oath, Oakland, woe, cocoa, woe, woe. No T for me. How about a cup of cocoa, please? Four, silent E. Another common way to spell the O sound is with silent E. The silent E comes at the end of the word, and it is usually separated from the o by a single consonant. O, silent E. Let's look at some examples. Road, phone, nose, dome, hope. Five, ow. At the end of words and sometimes in other places, the O sound is sometimes spelled ow. For example, no, row, show, crow, owner. Be careful with this one. Sometimes, ow represents another sound. Cow, now, down, plow, bow, or bow. There are two ways to pronounce this word. The exclamation O is one of the few words spelled OH in English. See how its meaning changes with intonation. You're married. Oh, that's interesting. You're married. Oh, I didn't realize that. You're married. Oh, I'm disappointed. You're married. Oh, I better be careful. You're married. Uh-oh, I'm in trouble now. Seven, O-U. Once in a while, we spell O with the letters O-U. These letters are often followed by G-H. For example, soul, though, dough, although. I love doughnuts. Love them so. I won't eat too many, though. Some spell it doughnuts. I know, I know. Using other letters to spell the O sound. Now it gets confusing. Hold on. Eight, E-W. Sometimes we don't even use the letter O to spell the O sound. In some words, O is spelled E-W. Sew, sewing. Bozo likes to sew, so sewing keeps her going. Nine, E-A-U. This is actually a French spelling, which has been adopted into English. Bo, plateau, bureau. Be careful with this one, though. It can sometimes be pronounced in other ways. Beauty, bureaucracy. Let's summarize the nine ways we can spell the O sound in English. Spell it with O alone. At the end of words, go, know, zero, tango. In the middle of words, sold, idle, comb, ghost. At the beginning of words, okay, oval, opine, odor. Spell it O-E. At the end of words, toe, hoe, dough, whoa. Note some plural endings. Heroes, potatoes. More ways to spell the O sound. Spell it O-A. In the middle of words, soap, roam, loan, toad. At the beginning of words, oats, oath, oaf, oaken. At the end of words, whoa, cocoa. Spell it O-silent E. In the middle of words, code, bone, rope, evoke. More ways to spell O. Spell it O-W. At the end of words, slow, toe, know, escrow. At the beginning of words, own, owner. Spell it O-H. O. Spell it O-U. At the end of words, with G-H. Dough, though, although. In the middle of words, soul. Spelling O without the letter O. Spell it E-W. At the end of words, sow. In the middle of words, sowing. Spell it E-A-U. At the end of words, bow, chateau, plateau. Well, that's about it. Be sure to check out our other videos on sounds and spelling. And don't forget to click on the link for kids' videos. Check out the description and links to learn more about our program. Thanks for watching. You can find out more on the following websites.