Why Are ‘Tough,’ ‘Though,’ and ‘Through’ Pronounced Differently?

At first glance, “tough,” “though,” and “through” seem like they should rhyme with their matching endings. But say them out loud, and you’ll have three different vowel sounds. The reason for the pronunciation mismatch turns out to be an evolution of “ough” that dates to the Middle Ages.

“Ough” in Middle English included a sound that is nearly extinct in modern English: a guttural consonant pronounced in the back of the throat, similar to the “ch” in the Scottish “loch.” This raspy sound is a fricative. Words with “ough” were pronounced with a vowel sound followed by the raspy consonant.

But not all “ough” words shared exactly the same vowel sound. Spellings and pronunciations varied by dialect. “Through,” for instance, boasted more than 500 different spellings between Middle English, Early Modern English, and Old Scots. . The modern pronunciation, /θru/ (using International Phonetic Alphabet symbols) or “throo,” resulted from stressing and lengthening one Middle English pronunciation. Similarly, “though” and “tough” had various Middle English forms (though not as many as “through”), resulting in a range of vowel sounds. However, “though” landed on the long “oh” (/ðoʊ/) and “tough” on the short, lower “uh”(/tʌf/).

Many of these changes took place during and after the Great Vowel Shift (15th to 18th centuries), a period when English vowel sounds changed as speakers shifted the position of their tongues during vowel articulation. Linguists debate the exact cause, but some cite cultural shifts and geographical migration. At the same time, the fricative (guttural noise) became less common, particularly in southern England, where aristocratic speech patterns were gaining ground.

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The printing press aided the process of standardizing English spelling in the late 15th century, but pronunciation was still changing. This left “ough” with the varied vowel pronunciations we know today: “uff” (tough), “oh” (though), “oo” (through), “off” (cough), “aw” (brought), and “ow” (bough). So, while the pronunciation of “ough” may seem random, it tells a story of the evolution of English.