"threw" and "through" sound the same

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The words 'threw' and 'through' are pronounced the same.

The words 'threw' and 'through' are pronounced the same.

The 'ough' ending of the word 'through' is not phonetic, meaning its pronunciation can't be predicted based on its spelling. No other word in English ends in 'ough' and the 'oo sound' /u/. 

The 'ew' ending is much more predictable, however. Words ending in 'ew' often end in either the 'oo sound' /u/ or the 'long u' /yu/. The 'long u' /yu/ pronunciation is more likely if the sound before the spelling is /m/, /k/, /f/, /b/, /v/, or /h/. See all the 'long u' /yu/ spellings and 'oo sound' spellings in the lessons for those sounds.

Other words ending in 'ew' and pronounced with 'oo sound' /u/ include:

  • blew
  • chew
  • crew
  • new/knew (in American English)
  • drew
  • cashew