Spelling rule
au or aw for the sound in saw
The answer
Use aw at the end of a word (saw, draw) or before a final n, l or k (lawn, crawl, hawk). Use au inside a word before other letters (cause, fraud, author). Our lexicon has 73 base words that follow this and 7 that break it.
When does the rule apply?
Au and aw are a matched pair, like ai and ay. Words do not end in u, so this sound is spelled aw when it closes a word. Like ow, aw has favorite consonants it sits in front of: n, l and k (yawn, shawl, squawk). Au fills the middle of words, and it shows up more in longer words: author, autumn, applause. In many American accents these words sound close to short o, so students may need extra help hearing the vowel.
Words that follow the rule
au inside a syllable
| Word | Position | Readable after |
|---|---|---|
| cause | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| fault | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| pause | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| author | au inside the syllable | Lesson 111 |
| autumn | au inside the syllable | not taught |
| because | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| default | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| audience | au inside the syllable | not taught |
| automatic | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| automobile | au inside the syllable | not taught |
| aunt | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| baud | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| fraud | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| sauce | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| clause | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| launch | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| causal | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| faucet | au inside the syllable | Lesson 117 |
| assault | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| exhaust | au inside the syllable | not taught |
| applause | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| automate | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| authentic | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| plausible | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| exhaustive | au inside the syllable | not taught |
| causality | au inside the syllable | Lesson 94 |
| implausible | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| autobiography | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| daub | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| laud | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| taut | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| caulk | au inside the syllable | not taught |
| daunt | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| gaunt | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| gauze | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| haunt | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| jaunt | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| mauve | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| taunt | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| vault | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| flaunt | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| staunch | au inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
aw at the end of a word or syllable
| Word | Position | Readable after |
|---|---|---|
| law | aw at the end | Lesson 93 |
| saw | aw at the end | Lesson 93 |
| draw | aw at the end | Lesson 93 |
| flaw | aw at the end | Lesson 93 |
| straw | aw at the end | Lesson 93 |
| withdrawal | aw ends a syllable | Lesson 93 |
| caw | aw at the end | Lesson 93 |
| jaw | aw at the end | Lesson 93 |
| paw | aw at the end | Lesson 93 |
| claw | aw at the end | Lesson 93 |
| gnaw | aw at the end | Lesson 118 |
| thaw | aw at the end | Lesson 93 |
aw before a final n or l or k
| Word | Position | Readable after |
|---|---|---|
| drawn | aw before final n | Lesson 93 |
| dawn | aw before final n | Lesson 93 |
| lawn | aw before final n | Lesson 93 |
| yawn | aw before final n | Lesson 93 |
| crawl | aw before final l | Lesson 93 |
| bawl | aw before final l | Lesson 93 |
| fawn | aw before final n | Lesson 93 |
| gawk | aw before final k | Lesson 93 |
| hawk | aw before final k | Lesson 93 |
| pawn | aw before final n | Lesson 93 |
| brawl | aw before final l | Lesson 93 |
| brawn | aw before final n | Lesson 93 |
| drawl | aw before final l | Lesson 93 |
| prawn | aw before final n | Lesson 93 |
| shawl | aw before final l | Lesson 93 |
| spawn | aw before final n | Lesson 93 |
| scrawl | aw before final l | Lesson 93 |
| sprawl | aw before final l | Lesson 93 |
| squawk | aw before final k | Lesson 93 |
Words that break the rule
aw where the rule expects au
| Word | Why it breaks | Readable after |
|---|---|---|
| awful | aw inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| awkward | aw inside the syllable | Lesson 111 |
| lawyer | aw inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
| awe | aw inside the syllable | Lesson 93 |
au where the rule expects aw
| Word | Why it breaks | Readable after |
|---|---|---|
| caution | au ends a syllable | Lesson 119 |
| haul | au before final l | Lesson 93 |
| maul | au before final l | Lesson 93 |
How do you teach it?
Start with aw at the end: saw, jaw, straw, claw. Then the three-consonant rule, with pairs such as "dawn" and "daunt". Finish with au in longer words. Keep the lists short at first, since the pattern is less frequent than ai and ay.
"Spell 'crawl'. The vowel comes before a final l. That's one of aw's three letters: n, l, k. So c-r-a-w-l. Now 'sauce'. After the vowel comes /s/. Not n, l or k. It's a-u."
What is the common error, and the fix?
"Sau" and "lawndry" are typical. Ask where the sound is and what comes after it. The end of a word, or a final n, l or k, means aw. Anything else means au. Then check the exceptions table, which has common words like awful.
Sort it: a hands-on activity
Sort au and aw cards from the tables by spelling, then underline the letter after the vowel on each aw card. The underlined letters should all be n, l, k, or nothing at all.
How this list was built
Every word comes from our lexicon of about 19,000 common words, each checked against a pronouncing dictionary and split into spelling units. Words a student meets in our assessments and progress-monitoring probes are left out, so practicing a list never rehearses a test. Rule groups are computed from each word's spelling units and its word sum (base plus suffix), then checked by hand; false word sums such as man + er for manner are removed.
"Readable after" is the first lesson in the lesson sequence at which our decodability engine finds every sound-spelling in the word taught; "not taught" means the word has a spelling the sequence does not cover, so it is read with help. You can check your own lists and passages with the free decodable text checker.
Questions people ask
Why is awful spelled with aw?
It comes from awe plus -ful, and the base word ends in the aw sound. That is why it keeps aw even though a consonant follows.
What are the exceptions?
Our list finds 7: awful, awkward, lawyer, awe, caution, haul. Some put aw before a letter other than n, l or k; others put au where the rule predicts aw.
Do au and aw always make the same sound?
In most words, yes. A few break that: aunt says the short a sound in many American accents.