How to pronounce “ballet”
Say “ballet” in 2 beats
ballet
/bæˈleɪ/
The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /ˈbaleɪ/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.
- balbæ
- letleɪstress
- IPA (American)
- /bæˈleɪ/
- IPA (British)
- /ˈbaleɪ/
- Respelling
- ba-LAY
- Syllables
- 2 — bal-LET
- Stress
- Stress the second syllable: bal-LET. “let” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
- Part of speech
- noun
- Difficulty
- Pro — the sounds are ordinary, the rhythm is where it slips
American and British are not the same here
/bæˈleɪ/
/ˈbaleɪ/
No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.
Where “ballet” goes wrong
- Often heard
“BAL-ett”
the t is silent: ba-LAY
What “ballet” means
- noun
a theatrical representation of a story that is performed to music by trained dancers
- noun
music written for a ballet
Say it in a sentence
“She studied ballet for ten years before turning to modern dance.”“ballet”, answered
How do you pronounce “ballet”?
“ballet” is pronounced /bæˈleɪ/ (ba-LAY) in American English and /ˈbaleɪ/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “let”. Build it as bal-LET, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.
How many syllables does “ballet” have?
2: bal · let. The beat lands on the second, “let”.
Is “ballet” said differently in British English?
Yes. American English says /bæˈleɪ/ (ba-LAY); British English says /ˈbaleɪ/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.
What does “ballet” mean?
As a noun: a theatrical representation of a story that is performed to music by trained dancers For example: “She studied ballet for ten years before turning to modern dance.” It carries 1 other sense as well — all of them said the same way.
Where is the stress in “ballet”?
Stress the second syllable: bal-LET. “let” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Now say “ballet” and see every sound
Record it once and sayit lines your audio up against the target sound by sound — what landed, what slipped, and what it sounded like instead.