PRACTICE IPA

Unit 5: A dog in the corner /ɒ/ and /ɔː/

A. How to make the sound /ɒ/

/ɒ/ is a short sound. Look at the diagram. Listen and say the sound. Round your lips a little. The front of your tongue is low and towards the back of your mouth. Target sound: /ɒ/

B. Sound and spelling

/ɒ/ is usually spelled o, and sometimes a. Listen and repeat.

  • bottle: /ˈbɒt.əl/
  • box: /bɒks/
  • chocolate: /ˈtʃɒk.lət/
  • clock: /klɒk/
  • coffee: /ˈkɒf.i/
  • copy: /ˈkɒp.i/
  • cost: /kɒst/
  • cross: /krɒs/
  • doctor: /ˈdɒk.tər/
  • dog: /dɒɡ/
  • gone: /ɡɒn/
  • got: /ɡɒt/
  • holiday: /ˈhɒl.ə.deɪ/
  • hospital: /ˈhɒs.pɪ.təl/
  • hot: /hɒt/
  • job: /dʒɒb/
  • lock: /lɒk/
  • long: /lɒŋ/
  • lost: /lɒst/
  • lot: /lɒt/
  • not: /nɒt/
  • off: /ɒf/
  • often: /ˈɒf.ən/
  • possible: /ˈpɒs.ə.bəl/
  • shop: /ʃɒp/
  • song: /sɒŋ/
  • sorry: /ˈsɒr.i/
  • stop: /stɒp/
  • top: /tɒp/
  • wrong: /rɒŋ/
  • quality: /ˈkwɒl.ə.ti/
  • want: /wɒnt/
  • wash: /wɒʃ/
  • wasn’t: /ˈwɒz.ənt/
  • watch: /wɒtʃ/
  • what: /wɒt/

Listen and say these sentences.

  1. Have you got a lot of shopping?: /hæv ju ɡɒt ə lɒt əv ˈʃɒp.ɪŋ/
  2. John’s gone to the shops.: /dʒɒnz ɡɒn tə ðə ʃɒps/
  3. How much did your holiday cost?: /haʊ mʌtʃ dɪd jɔːr ˈhɒl.ə.deɪ kɒst/
  4. She said the coffee wasn’t very good, but I thought it was. : /ʃi sed ðə ˈkɒf.i ˈwɒz.ənt ˈver.i ɡʊd bət aɪ θɔːt ɪt wɒz/

C. How to make the sound /ɔː/

/ɔː/ is a long sound. Look at the diagram. Listen and say
the sound. Round your lips more than for /ɒ/. Target sound /ɔː/

D. Sound and spelling

/ɔː/ has different spellings. Listen and say these words.

  • all: /ɔːl/
  • ball: /bɔːl/
  • call: /kɔːl/
  • fall: /fɔːl/
  • rall: /rɔːl/
  • wall: /wɔːl/
  • water: /ˈwɔː.tər/
  • autumn: /ˈɔː.təm/
  • saw: /sɔː/
  • caught: /kɔːt/
  • daughter: /ˈdɔː.tər/
  • bought: /bɔːt/
  • thought: /θɔːt/

Listen and say these phrases and sentences.

  1. Quarter past four: /ˈkwɔː.tər pɑːst fɔːr/
  2. Born in autumn: /bɔːn ɪn ˈɔː.təm/
  3. Have some more: /hæv səm mɔːr/
  4. Walking on water: /ˈwɔː.kɪŋ ɒn ˈwɔː.tər/
  5. The fourth door on the fourth floor: /ðə fɔːθ dɔːr ɒn ðə fɔːθ flɔːr/