Quick answer
Grown is about growing: it means fully developed, or the past participle of grow. Groan is a sound, the low noise you make when you are in pain or fed up. If you can hear it, it is groan; if it has got bigger, it is grown.
The core difference
Grown describes something that has grown, while groan is a low, unhappy sound or the act of making one.
- grown — the past participle of grow, or an adjective meaning adult: She has three grown children living abroad.
- groan — a low, drawn-out sound of pain or annoyance, or to make it: She groaned when she saw the size of the pile of homework.
How to tell them apart
A simple trick: groan has an a in the middle, like moan, and both are noises. Grown has row in it, and things grow in rows, such as crops in a garden.
The mix-up shows up in writing because the two words sound the same when spoken. Look at the job the word is doing: if it describes size, age or a plant that has developed, you want grown. If it describes a sound, or someone reacting with displeasure, you want groan.
Frequently asked questions
Is it grown or groan when someone complains?
It is groan. To groan is to make a low, unhappy sound, and the verb forms are groan, groans and groaned.
Can grown be used as an adjective?
Yes. A grown person is an adult, as in grown children. Used on its own, grown is also the past participle of grow, as in the tomatoes were grown in a greenhouse.
Are grown and groan pronounced the same?
Yes, they are homophones in standard English, which is why they get confused. Only the spelling and meaning tell them apart, so check the context when you write.
