How to pronounce groan in American English

IPA /groʊn/ Syllables 1 · grohn Stress 1st syllable

GROHN

Start here

Americans pronounce groan as GROHN (/groʊn/). You'll hear it in sentences like "The organ began to groan in the great hall".

Now you try.

Record yourself saying "groan" 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 "groan".

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

g/g/

Raise the back of your tongue to touch the soft palate. 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.

oh/oʊ/

Start with your mouth slightly open, then close your jaw slightly as your lips round. Shift your tongue back slightly, then stretch the back 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 "groan" in the wild.

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

"The organ began to groan in the great hall."

dhee OR·guhn buh·GAN tuh GROHN uhn dhuh GRAYT HAHL

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 "groan" 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 "GROHN" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.