flow vs flaw: hear and say the difference
flow and flaw are identical except for one sound: flow has the long o, /oʊ/, and flaw has the aw vowel, /ɔː/. AW is one steady rounded vowel held to the end; long O starts lower and slides — the lips tighten during the sound, which is what makes it a glide.
The two words
The difference
What actually changes
AW is one steady rounded vowel held to the end; long O starts lower and slides — the lips tighten during the sound, which is what makes it a glide.flow — /oʊ/
- Lips
- Start loosely rounded, then tighten into a ring.
- Tongue
- Starts back and mid, glides up and back.
- Jaw
- Starts half open, closes through the glide.
flaw — /ɔː/
- Lips
- Clearly rounded and pushed forward.
- Tongue
- Back, at mid-low height.
- Jaw
- Open, but less than for AH.
Each word in a sentence
flow
The river's flow slowed in summer.
flaw
There is one flaw in the plan.
Why this pair is hard
Spanish, Italian, French, German, Hindi, Urdu, Japanese, Korean and Turkish all have a steady long o and no glide, so 'boat' loses its movement and collapses into 'bought'. Mandarin has an ou diphthong, which makes the long O side much easier.
Straight answers
What is the difference between "flow" and "flaw"?
One sound. flow is /fləʊ/ and flaw is /flɔː/ — everything else in the two words is identical, so that single contrast carries the whole meaning. AW is one steady rounded vowel held to the end; long O starts lower and slides — the lips tighten during the sound, which is what makes it a glide.
Why do I say "flow" and "flaw" the same way?
Spanish, Italian, French, German, Hindi, Urdu, Japanese, Korean and Turkish all have a steady long o and no glide, so 'boat' loses its movement and collapses into 'bought'. Mandarin has an ou diphthong, which makes the long O side much easier.
Should I train my ear or my mouth first?
Your ear. If you cannot reliably hear which word was said, your mouth has no target to aim at, and drilling produces a sound you cannot check. Run the listening test on this page until you are scoring four or five out of five, then record the pair.
Say "flow" and "flaw" and see which one you said
One take covers both words: reference mode aligns each sound against its target, so the contrast comes back scored on both sides. Free, private, in your browser.