OU and OW Words – Diphthong Spelling Practice
Learn and practice words with the diphthongs OU and OW. Both spelling patterns can represent the same vowel sound, as in cloud and cow. Learning common ou and ow patterns helps children recognize, read, and spell these words more confidently.
What are the OU and OW diphthongs?
The letter combinations ou and ow can represent a diphthong—a vowel sound that changes or glides as it is pronounced.
Listen to the vowel sound in:
cloud
house
round
cow
town
brown
The vowel sound is similar, but it can be spelled with either ou or ow.
When do we use OU and OW?
Unlike some vowel patterns, there isn’t one simple rule that always tells us whether to use ou or ow. However, there are useful patterns children can learn.
OU is commonly found in the middle of words:
cloud, house, round, sound, mouth, count
OW is often found at the end of a word or syllable:
cow, how, now, down, town, brown
Learning these patterns and becoming familiar with common words makes it easier to choose the correct spelling.
Words with OU
Common words with ou include:
cloud, house, round, sound, mouth, count, found, loud
Notice how ou appears inside these words.
Reading, listening to, and spelling groups of ou words helps children become familiar with the pattern.
Words with OW
Common words with ow include:
cow, how, now, down, town, brown, clown, flower
In many of these words, ow appears at the end of the word or at the end of a syllable.
It’s also important to know that ow can represent a different sound in some English words, such as snow and grow. Children gradually learn these different patterns as their vocabulary develops.
Practice Diphthongs OU and OW
In SpellingCraft’s Listen and Spell exercise, children hear a word and type the correct spelling.
Words with ou and ow are mixed and randomized, so children practice recognizing and applying both spelling patterns rather than learning the words in a fixed order.
Continue learning
After practicing OU and OW, continue with
Diphthongs (oi/oy)
Vowel Teams (ai/ay)
Vowel Teams (ee/ea)
R-Controlled Vowels
or explore more Spelling Rules.
