listbeeMore vowel sounds
AW and AU words
Aw and au spell the /aw/ sound. As with other vowel-team pairs, the w spelling tends to come at the end of a word.
- Sound
- /aw/ as in saw
- Usually taught
- 2nd–3rd grade
- Words on this page
- 20 in 2 lists
AW and AU words: word lists
Practice a list online (each word is read aloud), or open it in the worksheet maker to print a test, word search, or look-cover-write-check sheet.
au words
9 words- haul
- sauce
- cause
- pause
- fault
- launch
- author
- autumn
- because
How the pattern works
Aw comes at the end of a word (saw, draw) or before a final n, l or k (lawn, crawl, hawk).
Au comes at the start or in the middle of a word, before other consonants: haul, sauce, author.
Because is one of the most practiced words in early grades, and it uses au.
Common mistakes
- Writing “becuz” or “becaus” for because.
- Using aw in the middle before most consonants: “sawce.”
- Writing o for the /aw/ sound in accents where the two are close: “sos” for sauce.
Practice ideas
- Chant because letter by letter in a rhythm: b-e-c-a-u-s-e.
- Sort the words by spelling, then underline what comes after each aw.
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