How to pronounce rough in American English
RUHF
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Americans pronounce rough as RUHF (/rʌf/).
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Why it sounds different
Why "rough" sounds like RUHF.
The "" at the end of "" flows directly into the vowel starting "" — the consonant migrates to the next word with no pause between. This is called the Consonant-to-Vowel Linking, how Americans glue words together so they sound like one phrase. It comes out as RUHF.
In real conversation
Hear "rough" in the wild.
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"He submitted the rough draft for peer review before finalizing."
hee suhb·MIH·duhd dhuh RUHF DRAFT fer PEER ree·VYOO buh·FOR FAHY·nuh·lahy·zuhng
"She sketched a rough outline before adding detailed shading."
shee SKEHCHT uh RUHF OWT·lahyn buh·FOR A·duhng DEE·tayld SHAY·duhng
"The rough cough was enough to frighten Fred."
dhuh RUHF KAHF wuhz uh·NUHF tuh FRAHY·tuhn FREHD
"Wrap the rough rope around the rust rack."
RAP dhuh RUHF ROHP uh·ROWND dhuh RUHST RAK
Questions
Questions people ask about this.
Is the American pronunciation of "rough" 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 "RUHF" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.
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