Pronunciation

How to pronounce “paella

“paella” is pronounced /paɪˈɛlə/ (py-EL-uh), and /pɑˈeɪjə/ is also accepted — 3 syllables, stressed on “ɛ”.
The sound

Say “paella” in 3 beats

Say it like this

paella

/paɪˈɛlə/

The voice you hear here is American; a British voice is available in the app's settings.

3 beats
  1. paɪpaɪ
  2. ɛɛstress
IPA (American)
/paɪˈɛlə/
IPA (British)
/paɪˈɛlə/
Also accepted
/pɑˈeɪjə/
Respelling
py-EL-uh
Syllables
3 — paɪ-Ɛ-lə
Stress
Stress the second syllable: paɪ-Ɛ-lə. “ɛ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.
Part of speech
noun
Difficulty
Legend — spelling and sound part company here
Watch out

Where “paella” goes wrong

  • Often heard

    pay-ELL-ah

    the ll is a y sound in Spanish: py-EL-uh, or py-AY-yuh

Meaning

What “paella” means

  1. noun

    saffron-flavored dish made of rice with shellfish and chicken

Say it in a sentence

They cooked a paella big enough for the whole street.
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

paella”, answered

How do you pronounce “paella”?

“paella” is pronounced /paɪˈɛlə/ (py-EL-uh), and /pɑˈeɪjə/ is also accepted — 3 syllables, stressed on “ɛ”. Build it as paɪ-Ɛ-lə, then run the second syllable a little longer than the rest and let the others reduce.

How many syllables does “paella” have?

3: paɪ · ɛ · lə. The beat lands on the second, “ɛ”.

Is “paella” /paɪˈɛlə/ or /pɑˈeɪjə/?

Both. /paɪˈɛlə/ is the form dictionaries list first (py-EL-uh).

What does “paella” mean?

As a noun: saffron-flavored dish made of rice with shellfish and chicken For example: “They cooked a paella big enough for the whole street.”

Where is the stress in “paella”?

Stress the second syllable: paɪ-Ɛ-lə. “ɛ” is longer, louder and a step higher; the other syllables fall away from it.

Practise this word

Now say “paella” 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.