The pronunciation of
the letter O in English

How do you pronounce the letter O in English?

The letter O has two main pronunciations in English: a short pronunciation and a long pronunciation. When a vowel has a "long" sound, it is pronounced like the letter's name. Listen to the difference between the short and long sounds of the letter O with the words in the table below. Click the link to hear the pronunciation.

Note: I am from the United States and my pronunciation is North American.

The pronunciation of the letter O in English
Long O sound	Short O sound
► /o:/	► /a/ (USA) ► /ɒ/ (UK)
► goat	► got
► coat	► cot
► rowboat	► robot
► soak	► sock
► note	► not
► cope	► cop
► cone	► con
► code	► cod
► dote	► dot
► mope	► mop
► road	► rod
► wrote	► rot

In the column of words with long sounds, all of them end with a silent E or contain a combination of vowels. When a word ends with a silent E, it causes the preceding vowel to be pronounced like the name of the letter. Likewise, if a word has a vowel combination, the first vowel "says its name." These pronunciation rules are explained in more detail on the Pronunciation Rules page.