An attempt is made to apply ‘group frequency’ assignments to the vibrational spectra of oxides. The following oxides are considered: TiO2(both anatase and rutile), SnO2(cassiterite), ZnO, WO3, CeO2, ThO2, B-Nb2O5,V2O5, MoO3, and MoO3′. The experimental data on V2O5(single-crystal Raman study), B-Nb2O5(single-crystal Raman study), WO3, CeO2, ThO2, and MoO3′ are new. There are also additional results for SnO2 and new i.r. data (including single-crystal studies) on MoO3.