That is just the tip of the iceberg for "ough". The way I pronounce English there are six sounds that "ough" can make:
1. borough (-oh)
2. through (-oo)
3. rough (-uff)
4. cough (-awf)
5. thought (-aw-)
6. plough (-ow)
And in some accents it can be a schwa (uh). I associate this with Britain and some northeast American regions. There are probably other sounds too.
As a kid, I was just told that these are 6 sounds that it can make. I was given them in that order (ostensibly in order of most common use), told to memorize them, and when encountering it in a word, try them until one seems correct. For some other phonics I had some mnemonics. For "oo" I remembered: "Don't eat food that you took from the floor."
1. borough (-oh) 2. through (-oo) 3. rough (-uff) 4. cough (-awf) 5. thought (-aw-) 6. plough (-ow)
And in some accents it can be a schwa (uh). I associate this with Britain and some northeast American regions. There are probably other sounds too.
As a kid, I was just told that these are 6 sounds that it can make. I was given them in that order (ostensibly in order of most common use), told to memorize them, and when encountering it in a word, try them until one seems correct. For some other phonics I had some mnemonics. For "oo" I remembered: "Don't eat food that you took from the floor."