Sound Gym

tongs · tongue

/tɒŋz/ vs /tʌŋ/ — similar spelling, very different vowels. The -ue in tongue is completely silent.

⠿ reorder

noun (always plural) — a gripping tool with two arms — 'kitchen tongs' · 'sugar tongs' · 'barbecue tongs' — you never say 'a tong'

mouth shape

short /ɒ/ — lips slightly rounded, mouth open — like 'hot', 'pot', 'gone' — ends in /ŋz/ (nasal + voiced Z)

tongs

/tɒŋz/

vowel length

short /ɒ/

⠿ reorder

noun — the muscular organ in your mouth used for tasting, swallowing, and speaking — 'bite your tongue' · 'mother tongue' · 'tongue-tied' · 'tongue twister'

mouth shape

short /ʌ/ — mouth mid-open, central — like 'cup', 'bus', 'sun' — the -ue is completely silent — ends in /ŋ/ only, no /z/

tongue

/tʌŋ/

vowel length

short /ʌ/

Vowel and ending spotlight

tongs

/tɒŋz/

short /ɒ/ + nasal /ŋ/ + voiced /z/

like: hot · pot · gone · song

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tungue

/tʌŋ/

short /ʌ/ + nasal /ŋ/ — silent ue

like: cup · bus · sun · fun

Silent -ue in tongue

The spelling tongue looks like it ends in “-unge” (like “lunge” /lʌndʒ/), but the -ue is completely silent and does not add a /dʒ/ sound. You say simply /tʌŋ/— the word rhymes with “lung” and “sung”, not with “plunge”.

Key difference

tongs has the short open /ɒ/ (like “hot”) and ends in /ŋz/ — that trailing voiced Z marks the plural.tongue has the mid-central /ʌ/ (like “cup”) and ends in just /ŋ/ — the -ue spelling is entirely decorative and silent.

Example sentences

tongs:“Use the tongs to turn the meat on the barbecue.”

tongs:“She lifted the sugar cubes with a pair of silver tongs.”

tongue:“Bite your tongue if you have nothing nice to say.”

tongue:“Arabic is her mother tongue.”

Hear it in a sentence

“She used metal tongs to turn the sausages on the barbecue grill.”

“He bit his tongue when she said something he strongly disagreed with.”

Hear it in the wild

Real speech from native speakers — the most reliable way to check a pronunciation, since automated audio can vary by device and browser.

YouGlish↗

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