Heteronym
"Row" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say ROH when it means a line of things, or to paddle a boat (noun), and ROW (rhymes with cow) when it means a noisy argument (noun). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
noun
ROH
a line of things, or to paddle a boat
“We sat in the front row.”
noun
ROW (rhymes with cow)
a noisy argument
“They had a big row.”
Each button speaks the respelling, not the spelling — otherwise the speech engine would pick a single default pronunciation for both senses.
| Pronunciation | Part of speech | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ROH | noun | a line of things, or to paddle a boat |
| ROW (rhymes with cow) | noun | a noisy argument |
"Row" has two different pronunciations with two different meanings. Say ROH when it means a line of things, or to paddle a boat (noun), and ROW (rhymes with cow) when it means a noisy argument (noun). Which one is correct depends entirely on the sentence.
Pronounced ROH, "row" is a noun meaning a line of things, or to paddle a boat. For example: "We sat in the front row."
Pronounced ROW (rhymes with cow), "row" is a noun meaning a noisy argument. For example: "They had a big row."
"Row" is a heteronym: two distinct words that happen to be spelled the same way. English spelling did not standardise around pronunciation, so unrelated words sometimes converged on one spelling while keeping separate sounds.
See the full entry for “row”, browse all 76 heteronyms and stress pairs, or learn how English stress works.