Two Jobs for ow: snow and cow

Decide whether ow says long o or the 'ow' diphthong by trying both and checking meaning.

The letters 'ow' have two jobs. Sometimes they make a long o, as in snow, grow, and window. Other times they make the gliding 'ow' sound, as in cow, town, and power. Nothing in the letters tells you which, so you try both and check. Read: 'The wind will blow the paper bow off the gift. ' For 'blow', try 'blau': not a word. Try 'bloh': yes!

For 'bow', both sounds are real words: 'boh' is a ribbon, and 'bau' means to bend forward. The words 'paper' and 'gift' tell you it is a ribbon, so it is 'boh'. This is why reading the whole sentence matters, even for decoding.

• 1ow can say long o (snow) or 'ow' (cow).
• 2Try both sounds and check for a real word.
• 3If both are real, use the sentence to decide.