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Listening Discrimination – /ɒ/ and /ɔ:/
("cot" and "caught")

Listen to the word and decide which vowel sound you hear.

You will hear one word from a pair of words. Listen carefully and choose the vowel sound you hear. The word will not be shown until you answer.

Example

/ɒ/ as in "cot"   ·   /ɔ:/ as in "caught"

/ɒ/ is the vowel sound in cot, pot and not.

/ɔː/ is the vowel sound in caught, port and short.

Listen for the difference in the vowel sound rather than concentrating on the spelling.

Next exercise: Listening discrimination – /ʌ/ and /ɜː/ ("bud" and "bird") →