‘oa’, ‘ow’ and ‘oe’ Make the same sound We use oa in the beginning or middle of a word/syllable (oak, soap), and oe and ow at the end of the word/syllable (toe AND throw). The ‘oa’ Sound boat First up, meet ‘oa’ When ‘o’ and ‘a’ team up as ‘oa,’ they almost always say /ou/ as in ‘boat’ or ‘coat.’ The ‘ow’ Sound Next, we have ‘ow.’ This duo is a bit more versatile. Most of the time, ‘ow’ also says /ou/, like in ‘snow’ or ‘bow’ (as in blow and sparrow). The ‘oe’ Sound Lastly, there’s ‘oe, which is