CHAPTER 28

Using or, ore, oar, our

The or sound can be spelled in a number of ways, for example for, fore, and four, also soar, war, wharf,

ought, taut, and caught. This variety of spellings should pose no problem because there is a pattern.

Spelling rule #1: By far the most popular of these spellings is the simple or. It is used at the
beginning, in the middle, and at the end of words.

(^) Spelling rule #2: The ore spelling is also extremely common. It is always used at the end of a
word:
(^) Note that furore is the British spelling. Americans spell the word without the e: furor.
There is only one commonly used English word that begins with ore. It is ore.
Spelling rule #3: The oa spelling and the ou spellings are usually found in the middle of a word.
(^) Note that the ou spelling can produce a variety of sounds, for example soup, source, sour, and journey.
Quite often, the pronunciation will vary from region to region.
Spelling rule #4: The ar spelling with the or sound is usually found after w, wh, and qu:
(^) The spellings aught and ought can both be used to produce the or sound without the r.
(^) A small group of words use the au spelling without the gh or the r to produce the same sound.