OW and OU Sound Words

Diphthong OW/OU at a glance:

• Words with ou sound include shout, cloud, found
• Words with ow sound include cow, down, crowd

Spelling Frequencies:

• ou - 66%
• ow - 34%

Rare Spelling Patterns:

• ough (drought)

Common Spelling Generalisations or Patterns:

• English words do not end in ‘i’ or ‘u’. Vowel teams that end in ‘i’ or ‘u’ will not be found at the end of words.
• ou is usually used in the beginning or middle of a word or syllable e.g. out, cloud, trout
• ow is usually used at the end of a word or syllable e.g. cow, now, flower, powder
• When /ow/ is followed by a single ‘n’ or ‘l’ at the end of a base word, it’s usually spelled ow e.g. down, frown, howl, growl, flower, tower