Being able to speak clearly and understandably is important in the TOEFL (and in life). So you\u2019ll want to make sure you can pronounce common English words correctly. Some of the hardest English words to pronounce correctly are the ones containing the letters \u201cough.\u201d <\/p>\n
This is because \u201cough\u201d can be pronounced in many different ways. It is pronounced 10 different ways in British English, and 6 different ways in North American English. You maybe breathing a sigh of relief right now, since the TOEFL uses U.S. pronunciation. Still, even six different sounds is a lot.
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Here are examples of each of the six sounds, with pronunciation written in IPA<\/a>:<\/p>\n 1) \/o\u028a\/ as in “though” (rhymes with \u201ctoe\u201d).<\/p>\n 2) \/u\u02d0\/ as in “through” (rhymes with \u201ctrue\u201d).<\/p>\n 3) \/\u028cf\/ as in “enough” (rhymes with \u201ctough\u201d).<\/p>\n 4) \/\u0252f\/ as in “cough” (rhymes with \u201coff\u201d).<\/p>\n 5) \/\u0254\u02d0\/ as in “thought” (rhymes with \u201ctaut\u201d).<\/p>\n 6) \/a\u028a\/ as in “bough” (rhymes with \u201chow\u201d). Listen to me read these six pronunciations out loud here:<\/p>\n
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