How to pronounce ought in American English

IPA /ɑt/ Syllables 1 · aht Stress 1st syllable

AHT

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Americans pronounce ought as AHT (/ɑt/).

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Why it sounds different

Why "ought" sounds like AHT.

The "" shared between "" and "" is held once, slightly longer, and released once instead of stopping and starting twice. This is called the Same-Consonant Linking, what turns word-by-word reading into actual conversation. It comes out as AHT.

In real conversation

Hear "ought" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"It's an odd job, but someone ought to do it."

ihts uhn AHD JAHB buht SUHM·wuhn AHT tuh DOO iht

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Is the American pronunciation of "ought" different from British English?

American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "AHT" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.