Decoding exercises: "oe"

Together with the article on decoding difficulties, this page sets out words teachers can use to help their students become more aware of how they can sound out more correctly the different sounds corresponding to words containing "oe".

Examples

 * /əʊ/: Joe - mistletoe - oboe - toe
 * plurals: does (female deers), echoes, embargoes, heroes, mosquitoes, potatoes, tomatoes, torpedoes, vetoes
 * past tense of verbs: demoed, echoed, embargoed, mamboed, tangoed, torpedoed, vetoed, zeroed
 * third person of verbs: echoes, embargoes, goes, tangoes, torpedoes, vetoes, zeroes


 * /ʌ/: does (verb)
 * /uː/: canoe, shoe
 * /ɜː/: hors d'oeuvre


 * "oeu" as /uː/: manoeuvre (maneuver)


 * Different syllables
 * /əʊ./: poetic, whatsoever
 * /əʊ.ɪ/: coefficient, hydroelectric
 * /əʊ.ə/: poem, poet, poetry
 * /əʊ.ɜː/: coerce
 * /uː./: whoever


 * These words don't rhyme
 * does (verb) - goes
 * toe - shoe
 * manoeuvre /məˈnuːvər/ - hors d'oeuvre /ˌɔːr ˈdɜːrv/


 * Homophones
 * does (female deer) - dose; shoe - shoo; toe - tow; toed - toad - towed;

Graeco-Latin words
Many words with "oe" are of Greek or Latin origin, and some of them are spelled or pronounced differently in British English and American English. A plus sign is used to remind that there is a shared spelling or pronunciation.