Year 4 English: The u sound spelt ou, and spelt o
Part of the Year 4 English spelling patterns in depth chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
The u sound spelt ou, and spelt o
In Year 3 you met ou in young and touch, where it makes the u sound, as in cup. Here are more words with the same ou: colour, colourful, colourless, tough, rough and youngster.
The same u sound can also be spelt with a single o, as in come, love, some and mother. So the sound alone does not tell you the spelling. You must learn each word.
| Spelling of the u sound, as in cup | Example words |
|---|---|
| ou | colour, colourful, tough, rough, youngster |
| o | come, love, some, mother, month |
Key ideas
- The u sound, as in cup, can be spelt ou, as in colour and tough.
- The same u sound can be spelt o, as in come, love and mother.
- Colour and colourful keep the same ou.
- Tough and rough have ou and gh. The gh at the end is said as an f sound.
Method. Match the meaning to the word, then check its spelling.
- Read the meaning. Think about what the clue describes.bright, with lots of different colours
- Find the word that matches. Think of the one word with this meaning.colourful
- Check the tricky part. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. Colourful keeps the ou from colour.Tricky part: ou
- Write the answer. colourful
Check. Read colourful and check each letter against the word. ✓
Watch out. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. Colourful keeps the ou from colour.
Method. Think what the sentence means, then choose the word that fits the gap and its spelling.
- Read the sentence with the gap. Think what the sentence means.The old rope was ___ and it did not snap.
- Find the word that fits the meaning. strong, and hard to break or to chewtough
- Put the word in the gap. Read the sentence again. It makes sense.The old rope was tough and it did not snap.
- Write the answer. tough
Check. Read the whole sentence with tough in it. ✓
Watch out. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. The gh at the end is said as an f.
Method. Say the whole word, then fill the box with the tricky letters.
- Say the whole word. Read every letter in order.youngster
- Look at the empty box. The box stands for 2 letter(s) in a row.2 missing letter(s)
- Write the missing letters. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. Youngster is made from young and ster.ou
Check. Put ou back in the box and read youngster. ✓
Watch out. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. Youngster is made from young and ster.
Watch out
Watch out: ou can make other sounds too. In soup it makes the oo sound, in mouth it makes the ow sound, and in four it makes the or sound. Learn the sound with each word.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Write colour and come on two cards side by side. Ask your child to point to the ou and to the o, then to say which card has the ou. Keep the cards for the next practice.
Exercise 1B Practice: the u sound spelt ou, and spelt o
Method. Match the meaning to the word, then check its spelling.
- Read the meaning. Think about what the clue describes.the shade of red, blue or green that things look
- Find the word that matches. Think of the one word with this meaning.colour
- Check the tricky part. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. UK English spells it colour, with ou.Tricky part: ou
- Write the answer. colour
Check. Read colour and check each letter against the word. ✓
Watch out. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. UK English spells it colour, with ou.
Method. Match the meaning to the word, then check its spelling.
- Read the meaning. Think about what the clue describes.not smooth, with bumps or uneven parts
- Find the word that matches. Think of the one word with this meaning.rough
- Check the tricky part. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. The gh at the end is said as an f.Tricky part: ou
- Write the answer. rough
Check. Read rough and check each letter against the word. ✓
Watch out. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. The gh at the end is said as an f.
Method. Match the meaning to the word, then check its spelling.
- Read the meaning. Think about what the clue describes.with no colour at all, like clear water
- Find the word that matches. Think of the one word with this meaning.colourless
- Check the tricky part. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. Colourless has the same ou as colour.Tricky part: ou
- Write the answer. colourless
Check. Read colourless and check each letter against the word. ✓
Watch out. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. Colourless has the same ou as colour.
Method. Think what the sentence means, then choose the word that fits the gap and its spelling.
- Read the sentence with the gap. Think what the sentence means.The painted fish looked very ___.
- Find the word that fits the meaning. bright, with lots of different colourscolourful
- Put the word in the gap. Read the sentence again. It makes sense.The painted fish looked very colourful.
- Write the answer. colourful
Check. Read the whole sentence with colourful in it. ✓
Watch out. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. Colourful keeps the ou from colour.
Method. Think what the sentence means, then choose the word that fits the gap and its spelling.
- Read the sentence with the gap. Think what the sentence means.The ___ kicked the ball over the fence.
- Find the word that fits the meaning. a young person, often a child or a teenageryoungster
- Put the word in the gap. Read the sentence again. It makes sense.The youngster kicked the ball over the fence.
- Write the answer. youngster
Check. Read the whole sentence with youngster in it. ✓
Watch out. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. Youngster is made from young and ster.
Method. Think what the sentence means, then choose the word that fits the gap and its spelling.
- Read the sentence with the gap. Think what the sentence means.The path was ___ with stones and roots.
- Find the word that fits the meaning. not smooth, with bumps or uneven partsrough
- Put the word in the gap. Read the sentence again. It makes sense.The path was rough with stones and roots.
- Write the answer. rough
Check. Read the whole sentence with rough in it. ✓
Watch out. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. The gh at the end is said as an f.
Method. Say the whole word, then fill the box with the tricky letters.
- Say the whole word. Read every letter in order.colourless
- Look at the empty box. The box stands for 2 letter(s) in a row.2 missing letter(s)
- Write the missing letters. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. Colourless has the same ou as colour.ou
Check. Put ou back in the box and read colourless. ✓
Watch out. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. Colourless has the same ou as colour.
Method. Say the whole word, then fill the box with the tricky letters.
- Say the whole word. Read every letter in order.rough
- Look at the empty box. The box stands for 2 letter(s) in a row.2 missing letter(s)
- Write the missing letters. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. The gh at the end is said as an f.ou
Check. Put ou back in the box and read rough. ✓
Watch out. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. The gh at the end is said as an f.
Method. Say the whole word, then fill the box with the tricky letters.
- Say the whole word. Read every letter in order.colour
- Look at the empty box. The box stands for 2 letter(s) in a row.2 missing letter(s)
- Write the missing letters. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. UK English spells it colour, with ou.ou
Check. Put ou back in the box and read colour. ✓
Watch out. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. UK English spells it colour, with ou.
Method. Compare the wrong spelling with the word we want.
- Look at color. Compare it with the word colour.color is not right
- Find the tricky part. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. UK English spells it colour, with ou.Tricky part: ou
- Write the word correctly. colour
Check. Read colour and check each letter. ✓
Watch out. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. UK English spells it colour, with ou.
Method. Compare the wrong spelling with the word we want.
- Look at ruf. Compare it with the word rough.ruf is not right
- Find the tricky part. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. The gh at the end is said as an f.Tricky part: ou
- Write the word correctly. rough
Check. Read rough and check each letter. ✓
Watch out. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. The gh at the end is said as an f.
Method. Compare the wrong spelling with the word we want.
- Look at yungster. Compare it with the word youngster.yungster is not right
- Find the tricky part. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. Youngster is made from young and ster.Tricky part: ou
- Write the word correctly. youngster
Check. Read youngster and check each letter. ✓
Watch out. The ou makes the u sound, as in cup. Youngster is made from young and ster.
Method. Look at the letters in each word.
- Find the ou words. colour and tough have ou.colour, tough
- Find the o words. come and love have o, with no u after it.come, love
- Write the answer. ou: colour, tough. o: come, love.
Check. Each word is in the right list. ✓
Watch out. Sort by the letters, not by the sound.
Method. Say each word with its ou, and compare it with the u sound in cup.
- Look at youngster and colour. The ou in both makes the u sound, as in cup.youngster, colour
- Look at soup. The ou in soup makes the oo sound, as in moon.soup: oo sound
- Write the answer. soup
Check. soup has the oo sound. ✓
Watch out. The same letters can make different sounds.
Method. Compare the sound of each ou with its example.
- Look at youngster. The ou is in the middle, and it makes the u sound, as in cup.you-ng-ster
- Compare with soup. The ou in soup makes the oo sound, as in moon.oo sound, as in moon
- Write the answer. No. The ou in youngster makes the u sound, as in cup. The ou in soup makes the oo sound.
Check. The two ou letters make different sounds. ✓
Watch out. Check each word, not just the letters.
Method. Look for an o with no u after it in each word.
- Look at mother and month. Both have an o that makes the u sound, and no ou.mother, month
- Look at couple. couple has an ou, so it is not the answer.couple: ou
- Write the answer. mother, month
Check. mother and month have an o, not an ou. ✓
Watch out. Look at the letters around the o.
Method. Use tough in a sentence that makes sense.
- Think of something strong. Tough means strong, and hard to break.strong and hard to break
- Write the sentence. Check the ou and the gh.The rope was tough and strong.
- Write the answer. Accept any correct sentence with tough, for example: The rope was tough and strong.
Check. tough has ou and gh. ✓
Watch out. The gh at the end is said as f.
Method. Say rough and listen to the end of the word.
- Look at rough. The gh is at the end of the word.rou-gh
- Compare with night. In night the gh is silent. In rough, the gh makes the f sound.gh sounds like f
- Write the answer. No. The gh in rough is said as an f sound, so it is not silent.
Check. rough and tough both end in gh, which makes the f sound. ✓
Watch out. Not every gh is silent.