drawn · drown

One letter apart but different vowels: drawn /drɔːn/ has the long round /ɔː/ like ‘corn’ — drown /draʊn/ has the diphthong /aʊ/ like ‘crown’.

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One letter apart but completely different vowels. drawn has the long round vowel /ɔː/ — like corn. drown has the diphthong /aʊ/ — like crown or town. Both end in /n/, which makes them easy to mix up.

⠿ reorder

past participle of draw — 'hand drawn' · 'a drawn face' (pale from exhaustion)

mouth shape

long /ɔː/ — lips round and jaw drops — like 'corn', 'born', 'floor' — ends with /n/

drawn

/drɔːn/

vowel length

long /ɔː/

⠿ reorder

verb — to die by being submerged in water — 'she drowned' · 'drown out the noise'

mouth shape

diphthong /aʊ/ — mouth opens wide for /a/, glides up to /ʊ/ — like 'crown', 'town', 'found'

drown

/draʊn/

vowel length

diphthong /aʊ/

Key difference

drawn /drɔːn/: long round /ɔː/ — lips stay rounded and steady — like born, corn. drown /draʊn/: diphthong /aʊ/ — mouth opens wide then lips push forward — like crown, town.

Example sentences

drawn:“The map was hand drawn in the 17th century.”

drawn:“She looked drawn after the long night shift.”

drown:“He nearly drowned in the river.”

drown:“Turn up the music to drown out the noise.”

Hear it in a sentence

“She had always been drawn to the sea, even as a child.”

“He nearly drowned trying to swim across the river in March.”

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.

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