why do we pronounce โ€œfโ€ in enough, but not in although

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There are no set rules for โ€˜ghโ€™ pronunciation.
ย 
The reason for the large variety of different sounds lies in the history of England and the English language. The โ€˜ghโ€™ย spelling originate from Anglo-Saxon times when words ending in โ€˜hโ€™ were pronounced with a harder sound, as seen with the Scottish pronunciation of โ€˜Loch.โ€™
However, the French invaded England in the 13th century, which had a huge impact on the English language and its spelling. To better represent the โ€œthickerโ€™ h sound, the spelling of many h words was changed to โ€˜ghโ€™.
ย 
Nowadays, there are 7 main sounds for the ough letter grouping.
Here they are with examples
ย 
ew โ€“ as in โ€œtwoโ€

  • through, throughout,

ย 
off โ€“ as in โ€œoffโ€

  • coughtrough

ย 
uff โ€“ as in โ€œstuffโ€

  • enough, rough, tough

ย 
oh โ€“ as in โ€œnoโ€ ย 

  • dough, though, although

ย 
ow โ€“ as in โ€œnowโ€

  • bough, drought

ย 
u โ€“ as only the โ€œuโ€ in โ€œstuff.โ€

  • borough, thurough

ย 
ore โ€“ as in โ€œstoreโ€

  • bought, brought, sought, thought
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Laurie
Laurie
Guest
9 months ago

Thorough is spelled incorrectly