How to pronounce town
Say it like TOWN. Town is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress.
Click the play button next to American or British to hear how to pronounce town. Choose Slow to hear each sound clearly.
- TOWN
- Main stress
- Lighter stress
- Unstressed
Town pronunciation, sound by sound
Read the parts left to right, then blend them together without pausing.
- TOWNSay this part loudest and longest. The vowel is the "ow" in now.
American vs British pronunciation of town
American and British speakers say town in essentially the same way: /taʊn/ in the US and /taʊn/ in the UK.
British respelling: TOWN.
What does town mean?
- an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city“they drive through town on their way to work”
- the people living in a municipality smaller than a city“the whole town cheered the team”
- an administrative division of a county“the town is responsible for snow removal”
Where does town come from?
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tuun (“garden”), West Frisian tún (“enclosure, garden”), Dutch tuin (“garden”), German Low German Tuun (“fence”), German Zaun (“fence”), Danish tun, Swedish tun and Norwegian Nynorsk tun (“yard”); also archaic
Words that rhyme with town
Practicing rhymes is a quick way to lock in the vowel sound of town.
Questions about saying town
How do you pronounce town?
Say TOWN. The American pronunciation is /taʊn/. In British English it is /taʊn/. Press play above to hear it at normal speed or slowly.
How many syllables are in town?
Town is a single syllable, so the whole word carries the stress. Broken into parts: TOWN.
Do Americans and Brits say town the same way?
Almost exactly. The American form is /taʊn/ and the British form is /taʊn/, so you can use either pronunciation with any listener.