Through Rough Tough Through Tough Thorough

Through Rough Tough Through Tough Thorough

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These five words are often confused, misspelt and mispronounced. We advise to study them one by one and then do a series of exercises for practice.
though

/ðəʊ/ — in spite of, despite the fact that, although

Steven went to work, though he didn’t feel very well.

Sonia failed to get the job, though she answered all questions at the interview.

Even though the weather was cold, we enjoyed the holiday.
tough

/tʌf/ — hard, difficult, severe

I’ve had a tough day, I’m exhausted.

The measures were tough but absolutely necessary.
through

/θruː/ — from one side to the other; with the help of, by means of

The glass was so dusty that I couldn’t see through it.

Data will be gathered through various indicators rather than through questionnaires.
thought

/θɔːt/ — idea; past forms of the verb "to think"

What are your thoughts on the subject?

My thoughts started to wander and I fell asleep.

That’s a good offer, give it some thought .
thorough

/ˈθʌrə/ — careful, detailed, in-depth

This carpet needs a thorough cleansing.

We’ll give our recommendations after a thorough analysis of the subject.

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As with other homophones, the words threw , through , and thru may sound alike but have different meanings and uses. Threw and through have very distinct meanings while thru is generally used only in informal writing.
The term threw is the simple past tense of the verb throw meaning “to propel something with force through the air by a movement of the arm and hand.”
“Young woman, 26, ‘threw boiling water over her boyfriend’s pal during a Valentine’s Day bust-up’”
The Sun
“Prosecutors won’t charge police officer who threw black high school student out of her chair onto the ground for refusing to give up her cellphone”
Daily Mail
“‘Grinning sex attacker’ threw table at woman, grabbed her throat and pinned her down to sexually assault her”
Mirror.co.uk
It may also mean “to cause to enter suddenly a particular state or condition.”
“Corruption threw country into abyss of terrorism: Siraj”
The News International
“Trevor Noah: How Trump threw Republicans in Congress ‘under the bus'”
Business Insider
“Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth Reportedly Threw a Secret New Year’s Eve Wedding”
Brides.com
On the other hand, through is mostly used as a preposition or adverb to denote “moving in one side and out of the other side of an opening, channel, or location.”
“A Gathering of the Global Elite, Through a Woman’s Eyes”
New York Times
“The Photos We Loved: President Obama Through Pete Souza’s Lens”
TIME
“Thousands fill Loop after Women’s March rally in Chicago draws estimated 250,000”
Chicago Tribune
It may also mean “continuing in time toward completion of a process or period.”
“Pod save America: 12 podcasts to get you through the Trump presidency”
The Guardian
“Growing Up Obama: Malia and Sasha Through the Years”
TIME
“Study suggests surprising reason killer whales go through menopause”
Science Magazine
Meanwhile, the term thru is simply an informal spelling of the word through and is usually not recommended to be used in formal writing as it is considered less serious than its original counterpart.
“Website Thru The Nite: The Countdown Has Begun”
Muncie Journal
“Cold Rain Thru Wednesday. Little Icing North And West”
WPRI 12 Eyewitness News
“Heavy Wet Snow and Ice Expected Monday Night Thru Tuesday”
The Vermont Standard
Another term that may add up to the confusion would be the adjective thorough which means “complete with regard to every detail” or “performed or written with great care and completeness.” This is attributed to its almost identical spelling with through .
“Senate should take its time, be thorough in vetting Trump nominees”
The Seattle Times
“Acting president calls for thorough readiness against potential N. Korea provocations”
Korea Times
“Senator Chuck Schumer Calls for a ‘Thorough’ Vetting of Trump’s Nominees”
Newsweek
Hopefully, you will never go through the confusion with using these words that threw you off of your writing game. Just remember to establish what message you want to convey in your sentence to help you choose the right term.
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thor·ough

| \ ˈthər-(ˌ)ō

, sometimes ˈthȯr- ; ˈthə-(ˌ)rō \

1

: carried through to completion : exhaustive

a thorough search

2 a

: marked by full detail

a thorough description

b

: careful about detail : painstaking

a thorough scholar

c

: complete in all respects

thorough pleasure

d

: having full mastery (as of an art)

a thorough musician

Adjective

… one realized that it was the restaurant's thorough and even comic Frenchness that had made it so entirely New York.

— Adam Gopnik , New Yorker , 22 Mar. 2004

Bruce tells me to squat down and Koani sidles up, ears flattened, tail tucked away, and gives my face a thorough licking.

— Nicholas Evans , Daily Telegraph , 26 Sept. 1998

The job was uncharacteristically thorough for a Russian contract killing—three different types of bullets riddled Mikho's body.

— New Republic , 15 Dec. 1997

a thorough understanding of the rules and regulations

The investigator will have to be thorough .

The story kicks off when they are forced to do a thorough investigation in the prison to save their jobs and prevent the hierarchy and drug trade from dominating the workplace within three months.

—

Elsa Keslassy, Variety , 23 Aug. 2022

Note that not all pain actually has an identifiable cause even with thorough investigation from the healthcare provider.

—

Carolyn Rosenblatt, Forbes , 4 Aug. 2022

Joni Money said a thorough investigation determined the husband fatally shot his wife and then himself.

—

Carol Robinson | Crobinson@al.com, al , 2 Aug. 2022

The merger is likely to face a thorough investigation from the Biden administration’s antitrust regulators, who have taken an aggressive stand against corporate consolidation, especially in industries already dominated by a few businesses.

—

New York Times , 28 July 2022

In May 2021, Science published the open letter from Worobey and researchers at Harvard, Yale, Stanford and other leading institutions that called for a more thorough investigation.

—

Corinne Purtill, Los Angeles Times , 26 July 2022

MLA
Chicago
APA
Merriam-Webster

thor·ough

| \ ˈthər-ō

\

1

: being such to the fullest degree : complete

a thorough search

2

: careful about little things

a thorough worker

Slow
Swift
Unpredictable
Relentless

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Definition of thorough (Entry 2 of 3)
Definition of thorough (Entry 3 of 3)

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'thorough.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback .

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Middle English thorow , from Old English thurh, thuruh , preposition & adverb
“Thorough.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thorough. Accessed 22 Sep. 2022.
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Why are "trough," "plough," "through," and "tough" pronounced differently?
Author, nurse, native american, living in UK at School of Life · Author has 4.3K answers and 22.2M answer views · 1 y ·
Why must English pronunciation be so difficult? For example, who determined words ending in “ough” should be pronounced so differently, like “rough,” “though,” “bough,” and “cough”?
Why does the English language have words that aren't pronounced phonetically? What is the reason behind the origination of the spellings of these words?
Are plough and plow pronounced differently?
Why do people pronounce “the” differently?
Lives in Northumberland, UK · Author has 1.7K answers and 5.8M answer views · 1 y ·
Why must English pronunciation be so difficult? For example, who determined words ending in “ough” should be pronounced so differently, like “rough,” “though,” “bough,” and “cough”?
Why does the English language have words that aren't pronounced phonetically? What is the reason behind the origination of the spellings of these words?
Are plough and plow pronounced differently?
Why do people pronounce “the” differently?
Why do people pronounce the word "adult" differently, with the A being pronounced as "ah" or "uh"?
Why is the word “data” pronounced differently?
Why do people pronounce “during” differently?
Why is Mobile AL pronounced differently?
How do you pronounce the names Carrie and Kerry?
Why do people write “trough” instead of “through”?
Why are double "o" words pronounced in three different ways (as in “foot, food, flood”)?
Are Erin and Aaron pronounced differently?
Why do some people pronounce "feel" and "fill" the same way?
Why is “the” pronounced differently with some words?
Why must English pronunciation be so difficult? For example, who determined words ending in “ough” should be pronounced so differently, like “rough,” “though,” “bough,” and “cough”?
Why does the English language have words that aren't pronounced phonetically? What is the reason behind the origination of the spellings of these words?
Are plough and plow pronounced differently?
Why do people pronounce “the” differently?
Why do people pronounce the word "adult" differently, with the A being pronounced as "ah" or "uh"?
Why is the word “data” pronounced differently?
Why do people pronounce “during” differently?
Why is Mobile AL pronounced differently?
How do you pronounce the names Carrie and Kerry?
Something went wrong. Wait a moment and try again.
There once was a woman in Slough who got an infection when she tripped on a bough She said “this is too tough! I’ve just had enough!
Why is slough “sluff” when it is spelt just like Slough? Why is it “coff” when it’s “cough”, but hiccoughs. you know
are “hiccups” not “hickcoffs”- but “dough” is still “doe” Why is lough not written “lock”, and hough not just “hock” (unless it’s the name Hoff) Why is it Burrough and not just Burrow? She lamented all that she had to go through and finally decided what she had to do-
So, she went to the grave of the Bard
(in the Stratford-on-Avon churchyard)
There once was a woman in Slough who got an infection when she tripped on a bough She said “this is too tough! I’ve just had enough!
Why is slough “sluff” when it is spelt just like Slough? Why is it “coff” when it’s “cough”, but hiccoughs. you know
are “hiccups” not “hickcoffs”- but “dough” is still “doe” Why is lough not written “lock”, and hough not just “hock” (unless it’s the name Hoff) Why is it Burrough and not just Burrow? She lamented all that she had to go through and finally decided what she had to do-
So, she went to the grave of the Bard
(in the Stratford-on-Avon churchyard)
She fell to her knees and offered her plea-
“why does English have to be so damn hard???” He said from his grave that you just have to be brave “Our language is like a great pot of stew,
Following a recipe from Babel, generations ago-
pinch of this, some of that, forward you plough…
When done it looks quite a sight, but on your tongue it’s alright- Trust someday English will make sense, somehough.
As for plough, it absolutely is still pronounced, phonetically, that way, in the place it was first written down. It oftentimes baffles visiting people to Northumberland - when asking directions to a pub, say - named ‘The Plough (or a place relative to it) that they are directed via a place the locals literally vocalise as ‘ The Plough ’. (Read it as something like an aspirated ‘ Pluff ’ in modern American English)
Plough became the accepted spelling of the word for that agricultural implement, more than a thousand years ago, because ‘Plough’ was (and is) still an entirely phonetic spelling of how
As for plough, it absolutely is still pronounced, phonetically, that way, in the place it was first written down. It oftentimes baffles visiting people to Northumberland - when asking directions to a pub, say - named ‘The Plough (or a place relative to it) that they are directed via a place the locals literally vocalise as ‘ The Plough ’. (Read it as something like an aspirated ‘ Pluff ’ in modern American English)
Plough became the accepted spelling of the word for that agricultural implement, more than a thousand years ago, because ‘Plough’ was (and is) still an entirely phonetic spelling of how this word is pronounced in Northumberland, which is one of the very first places on Earth where any language that called itself ‘ Angle-ish ’ was ever spoken and written down. You have our spellings because we were amongst the first to write this language.
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Through Rough Tough Through Tough Thorough

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