How to pronounce brown in American English

IPA /braʊn/ Syllables 1 · brown Stress 1st syllable

BROWN

Start here

Americans pronounce brown as BROWN (/braʊn/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Look at the brown mouse" or "The public library building is big and brown" — more examples below.

Now you try.

Record yourself saying "brown" and play it back. The mic stays on your device — nothing's uploaded.

Ready when you are

Tap the mic to start

Preview your accent profile

Get your accent profile and 5-axes assessment.

Sounds

75%

Clarity

68%

Stress

78%

Intonation

65%

Fluency

62%

Overall assessment

Our AI coach listens to your recording and grades 5 dimensions of pronunciation — then tells you exactly what to fix next.

72% Noticeable accent

Unlock the full report in the app

Sound by sound

Every sound in "brown".

1 syllable, 4 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

b/b/

Press your lips together, add vocal cord vibration, then release.

r/r/

Curl or bunch your tongue without letting the tip touch the roof of your mouth. Brace the sides of your tongue against your upper back teeth, and round your lips slightly.

ow/aʊ/

Start with a dropped jaw and flat tongue. Glide into a relaxed, slightly rounded lip position as the back of the tongue stretches up.

n/n/

Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth. Air flows through your nose.

In real conversation

Hear "brown" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"Look at the brown mouse."

LUUK uht dhuh BROWN MOWS

"She sautéed the onions until they were golden brown and fragrant."

shee sah·TAY EHD dhee UHN·yuhnz uhn·TIHL dhay wer GOHL·duhn BROWN and FRAY·gruhnt

"The public library building is big and brown."

dhuh PUH·bluhk LAHY·brair·ee BIHL·duhng uhz BIHG and BROWN

"The brown mouse was found on the ground outside."

dhuh BROWN MOWS wuhz FOWND ahn dhuh GROWND OWT·sahyd

Find another

Looking for a different word or sentence?

Search the entire library

Press / anywhere to focus the search box.

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Is the American pronunciation of "brown" different from British English?

American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "BROWN" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.