The Sounds of English
A Basic Course

as in <cart>, as in <caught>, as in <cot> Listen

 

--- ---


Listen

park ------ pork
garden --- Gordon
card ------ cord ----- cod
cart -------caught ---- cot
part ------- port ------pot
----------- forks ----- fox

Gordon's walking in the garden
He caught a huge cod
She drinks a lot of port
He's not naughty!


Listen and read: Ron and Paul live in York. They play football as often as possible. Paul is a forward; he's short, but quick. Ron is taller; he's a defender. They play every Saturday morning, sometimes together with George and some other boys. Ron wants to become a professional footballer when he grows up. Rob has long wanted to become a sports reporter.

Norwegian learners' problems:
Listen

Of these three sounds, only the short creates any real problems for Norwegian speakers, as it is clearly different from a short Norwegian "å". Practise that sound in particular. And do not round your lips (at any rate not as much as you would with a Norwegian "å").

 

Variants:

In US English the -sound sounds more like a long "a", which corresponds neatly with the symbol used for this speech sound there, (John in British English is transcribed , in American English it is transcribed .

In many British accents, especially in the North, the long -sound, when not followed by an "r" in writing, is replaced by a shorter -like sound, in words like dance and grass. The same applies in American English, but there the -sound is longer.

SPELLING BOX:

: <a>: star

: combinations with <a>: all; law
<o(o)r>: store; door
<ou> / <au> thought / taught

: <o> cod
<a> want