ah/ɑ/
Relax your lips and drop your jaw significantly. The tongue tip lightly touches behind the bottom front teeth and the back part of the tongue presses down a little to create more dark space in the back of the mouth.
How to pronounce ought in American English
AHT
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Americans pronounce ought as AHT (/ɑt/). You'll hear it in sentences like "It's an odd job, but someone ought to do it".
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Every sound in "ought".
1 syllable, 2 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.
t/t/
Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth. Keep your jaw relaxed. Stop the air, then release with a puff.
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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.
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