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Verb · B1 · less common

тонуть

Translation of тонуть

drown

Russian word in Latin letters: tonut

Meaning of тонуть

Russian

Погибать под водой, не имея возможности дышать.

English

to die because you are under water and cannot breathe

тонуть

Pronunciation

Russian
[tɐˈnutʲ]

Traps and common mistakes

Тонуть or утопить?

утопить

утопить = to drown someone or make something sink

Don't mix them up. A person drowns — тонуть, утонуть; you drown someone or something — утопить.

В фильме бандиты пытались утопить свидетеля.

In the film, gangsters tried to drown a witness.

Он не умел плавать и чуть не утонул.

He couldn't swim and almost drowned.

Try translating it yourself

Translate these short sentences from English into Russian using the word you are learning. Then open one possible answer and compare it with yours. This is practice, not a test.

  1. People drown in this river every summer.

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    Каждое лето в этой реке тонут люди.

  2. The boat turned over and he began to drown.

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    Лодка перевернулась, и он начал тонуть.

Related words and lists for тонуть

Questions about this word

тонуть meaning: what does it mean?

to die because you are under water and cannot breathe

тонуть pronunciation: how do you pronounce it?

тонуть is pronounced as [tɐˈnutʲ]. Audio is available on this page when the word has a recording.

тонуть definition and sentence examples: how is it used in a sentence?

People drown in this river every summer. Translation: Каждое лето в этой реке тонут люди.

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