Initial Remarks: The letters G and H are often associated in English. When placed at the beginning of a word, they do not generate any difficulty. The H is then silent, as in ghetto, ghost, and Ghana. When placed in the middle or at the end of a word, G and H may be pronounced two ways. They may either be silent, as in bobsleigh and though, or they are pronounced (f), as in enough and cough.
Whenever the letters G and H are placed before a T, they are silent, and the letter T is pronounced, as in flight, weight, and nightingale.
Please Note! The word hiccough is pronounced as in the more phonetic spelling hiccup.
GH (silent) GH = (f) GHT
Read Aloud Exercises
GH (silent): weigh, higher, dough, sleigh, sigh GH = (f): tough, laughter, laughing, cough, roughly
a night flight, the right man for Ghana, a bad cough,
in the moonlight, high incomes
Enough is enough!
We had a good laugh.
Good night, sleep tight!
It was a real breakthrough.
She thought it was tough enough.
Angie: Who do you think is the right man for Ghana?
Nathan: I don’t know. I need to weigh the pros and cons.
Angie: I hear it’s a tough situation right now.
Nathan: It was this bad eight years ago, too, but now tension is higher.
Angie: I read that some people are protesting high income taxes.
Nathan: Others are fighting for a breakthrough in the employment situation.
Angie: The violence is getting out of hand! The police ought to intervene in the ghettos.
Nathan: Mostly, they ought to be careful. You never know with riots…
Angie: Yes, a policeman was shot in the thigh, although he could still walk.
Nathan: These are rough times, but Ghana will come out of it!