SOUND LESSON

How to pronounce /ɑ/ and /ɒ/: the vowel in hot

Compare American unrounded /ɑ/ and British rounded /ɒ/ in hot and stop. Choose one target, and avoid reading the letter o as the vowel in go.

/ɑ/ and /ɒ/

American English: /ɑ/ · monophthong · open · back · unrounded
British English: /ɒ/ · monophthong · short · open · back · rounded

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Pronunciation model

Try it in a word

Stop the hot pot on the box.

Mouth & tongue

Enable JavaScript to view the 3D panda. Pronunciation steps remain available below.

Vocal folds: vibrating

TongueTeethUvula

Simplified human pronunciation. The small uvula hangs from the palate; it is not the vocal folds. The wave indicates voicing.

Voice settings

The mouth starts slightly open. Movement is slowed for observation; the synthetic sound plays once at its original speed. Pause holds the current mouth shape; reset returns to the relaxed position. The panda is a symbolic teaching aid for human pronunciation, not animal anatomy.

What your mouth is doing

American /ɑ/ is low and back, with the jaw open and the lips unrounded. British /ɒ/ is also low and back, but short and lightly rounded. Listen to the accent you are following.

Comparing with Mandarin and Spanish

Accent matters more than the symbol. An American hot can sound much like the vowel in father, while a British hot does not. Both are correct in their own systems.

Mandarin a and Spanish a can help with American /ɑ/, while British /ɒ/ needs light rounding. Neither target is Mandarin ao or the gliding English vowel in go.

Build the sound, step by step

Open your jaw and pull your tongue low and back.
For American English keep the lips relaxed; for British English round them slightly.
Say hot, stop and box, keeping one steady vowel in each.

What to watch for

A glide into /oʊ/ turns not into note. Keep the vowel still.
Do not mix the targets randomly. Choose one accent and stay with its examples.

Hear the difference in your own voice

Practice lock and luck, then not and note. For the first pair, move the tongue back and lower it in lock. For the second, keep not steady and let note glide.

References & editorial notes

PronounceKit wrote this lesson as practical guidance. The references below describe the sounds; the comparisons with other languages are editorial teaching suggestions. It describes common American and British patterns, not every accent, and it has not been independently reviewed by a pronunciation specialist. The mouth model is a simplified teaching aid, not a validated simulation.

Published 3 November 2026