vs
QUICK ANSWER
"Drown" is an intransitive verb which is often translated as "ahogarse", and "suffocate" is a transitive verb which is often translated as "asfixiar". Learn more about the difference between "drown" and "suffocate" below.
drown(
draun
)An intransitive verb is one that does not require a direct object (e.g., The man sneezed.).
a. ahogarse
He drowned because he wasn't wearing a life jacket.Se ahogó porque no llevaba salvavidas.
b. morir ahogado
Two children drowned in the last flood.Dos niños murieron ahogados en la última inundación.
a. vivir agobiado por
Our family was drowning in debt.Nuestra familia vivía agobiada por las deudas.
A transitive verb is a verb that requires a direct object (e.g., I bought a book.).
suffocate(
suh
-
fuh
-
keyt
)A transitive verb is a verb that requires a direct object (e.g., I bought a book.).
a. asfixiar
A mother risks suffocating her infant by allowing it to sleep in the same bed as her.Una madre se arriesga a asfixiar a su bebé al dejarlo dormir en la cama con ella.
b. ahogar
My burly wife always rolls over during the night. One of these days she's going to suffocate me.Mi fornida esposa da muchas vueltas en la cama durante la noche. Un día de estos me va a ahogar.
An intransitive verb is one that does not require a direct object (e.g., The man sneezed.).
a. asfixiarse
The man became trapped in an airtight chamber and eventually suffocated.El hombre quedó atrapado en una cámara hermética y finalmente se asfixió.
b. ahogarse
Darius ran out of oxygen when he was deep diving in the ocean, and he suffocated.A Darius se le acabó el oxígeno cuando buceaba a gran profundidad, y se ahogó.
