Pronunciation

How to pronounce “channel

“channel” is pronounced /ˈtʃænəl/ (CHA-nuhl) in American English and /tʃanəl/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “chan”.
The sound

Say “channel” in 2 beats

Say it like this

channel

/ˈtʃænəl/

The voice you hear here is American; the British form is /tʃanəl/ (see the table below), and a British voice is available in the app's settings.

2 beats
  1. chantʃæstress
  2. nelnəl
IPA (American)
/ˈtʃænəl/
IPA (British)
/tʃanəl/
Respelling
CHA-nuhl
Syllables
2 — CHAN-nel
Stress
Stress the first syllable: CHAN-nel. “chan” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.
Part of speech
noun, verb
Difficulty
Beginner — most learners get this on the first take
Accents

American and British are not the same here

American

/ˈtʃænəl/

British

/tʃanəl/

No audio here: sayit’s voice is American, so a British button would play the American word. Read the transcription instead.

Meaning

What “channel” means

  1. noun

    a path over which electrical signals can pass

    a channel is typically what you rent from a telephone company

  2. noun

    a passage for water (or other fluids) to flow through

    the fields were crossed with irrigation channels

  3. noun

    a long narrow furrow cut either by a natural process (such as erosion) or by a tool (as e.g. a groove in a phonograph record)

Say it in a sentence

The aerial picks up one channel and then loses it again.
Sound by sound

The sounds inside this word

5 sounds, in the order you say them

Each sound has its own page: where the tongue goes, what it is usually confused with, and words to drill it on.

Questions

channel”, answered

How do you pronounce “channel”?

“channel” is pronounced /ˈtʃænəl/ (CHA-nuhl) in American English and /tʃanəl/ in British English — 2 syllables, stressed on “chan”. Build it as CHAN-nel, then run the first syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “channel” have?

2: chan · nel. The beat lands on the first, “chan”.

Is “channel” said differently in British English?

Yes. American English says /ˈtʃænəl/ (CHA-nuhl); British English says /tʃanəl/. Both are correct — choose the accent you are learning and stay inside it.

What does “channel” mean?

As a noun: a path over which electrical signals can pass For example: “a channel is typically what you rent from a telephone company” It carries 2 other senses as well — all of them said the same way.

Where is the stress in “channel”?

Stress the first syllable: CHAN-nel. “chan” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllable falls away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “channel” 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.