draught
noun · a current of cold air in a room; also beer served from a barrel (British spelling of draft)
- DRAFTdræft (stressed)
- DRAHFTdrɑːft (stressed)
- US /dræft/DRAFT Recorded voice
- UK /drɑːft/DRAHFT Your device’s voice
How to pronounce draught
Draught is pronounced DRAFT in American English and DRAHFT in British English. It is one syllable, and it sounds exactly like draft, which is the usual American spelling. The augh is said as in laugh, with gh as an f sound.
- 1 syllable
- Stress on DRAFT
- Sounds like draft
- Checked in Cambridge and Oxford
IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. The recording is American English.
Draught, sound by sound
Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.
US American English/dræft/
DRAFTstressed
- /d/as in did
- /r/as in red
- /æ/as in cat
- /f/as in fall
- /t/as in tea
UK British English/drɑːft/
DRAHFTstressed
- /d/as in did
- /r/as in red
- /ɑː/as in father
- /f/as in fall
- /t/as in tea
Say draught yourself
Press the microphone and say it once. Your browser writes down what it hears: if it writes draught, you were understood. If it writes another word, you see which sound changed.
Tip. The gh is an f sound, as in laugh. Say DRAHFT (UK) or DRAFT (US): it sounds just like draft.
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Common draught pronunciation mistakes
What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say DRAFT.
Not
DROWTReading it like drought, which rhymes with out. Draught has an f sound: DRAFT or DRAHFT.
Not
DRAWTReading augh as in caught and taught. Here augh is as in laugh: a or ah, then f.
Not
DRAHTDropping the f. The gh is not silent here: it is the f sound of laugh.
Draught in a sentence
Hear each one, slow it down, then say it. Words change a little when they join others, so practise them in sentences too.
Close the door, there's a terrible draught.
He ordered a pint of draught beer.
We put a mat by the door to stop the draught.
Why does draught sound like draft?
Draught and draft are the same word. It comes from Middle English draht, related to draw: a draught of air is drawn into a room, draught beer is drawn from a barrel, and a draught horse pulls a cart.
The gh once stood for a sound made in the throat, like the ch in Scottish loch. Over time that sound became f in some words, such as laugh, cough and enough, and disappeared in others, such as taught and night. In draught it became f, so the spelling draft shows the sound better.
American English uses draft for almost every meaning. British English uses draught for air, drinks and the game of draughts, but draft for a first version of a text and for a bank draft.
Words that sound like draught
Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.
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