Pronunciation

How to pronounce “brought

“brought” is pronounced /bɹɔt/ (BRAWT) in American English and /bɹɔːt/ in British English — one syllable.
The sound

Say “brought” in one beat

Say it like this

brought

/bɹɔt/

The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /bɹɔːt/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.

1 beat
  1. broughtbɹɔt
IPA (American)
/bɹɔt/
IPA (British)
/bɹɔːt/
Respelling
BRAWT
Syllables
1 — brought
Stress
One syllable, so the whole word carries the beat — say /bɹɔt/ in one unbroken piece rather than clipping the vowel.
Part of speech
verb
Difficulty
Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/bɹɔt/

British

/bɹɔːt/

No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.

Meaning

What “brought” means

  1. verb

    take something or somebody with oneself somewhere

    Bring me the box from the other room

  2. verb

    cause to come into a particular state or condition

    Long hard years of on the job training had brought them to their competence

  3. verb

    cause to happen or to occur as a consequence

    I cannot work a miracle

Say it in a sentence

He brought fresh flowers for his grandmother every Sunday.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

4 sounds, in the order you say them

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

brought”, answered

How do you pronounce “brought”?

“brought” is pronounced /bɹɔt/ (BRAWT) in American English and /bɹɔːt/ in British English — one syllable. It is one unbroken piece — /bɹɔt/ — with no pause anywhere inside it.

How many syllables does “brought” have?

One, despite the 2 vowel letters in the spelling. The whole word is /bɹɔt/ — a single beat.

Is “brought” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /bɹɔt/ (BRAWT); British English says /bɹɔːt/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “brought” mean?

As a verb: take something or somebody with oneself somewhere For example: “Bring me the box from the other room” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “brought”?

One syllable, so the whole word carries the beat — say /bɹɔt/ in one unbroken piece rather than clipping the vowel.

Practise this word

Now say “brought” and see every sound

Record it once and sayit lines your audio up against the target sound by sound — what landed, what slipped, and what it sounded like instead.