colonel
noun · a senior officer in the army, air force or marines
- KURkɝː (stressed)
- nlnəl
- KURkɜː (stressed)
- nlnəl
- US /ˈkɝː.nəl/KUR-nl Recorded voice
- UK /ˈkɜː.nəl/KUR-nl Your device’s voice
How to pronounce colonel
Colonel is pronounced KUR-nl, exactly like the word kernel. It has two syllables with the stress on the first, and there is no L sound in the first syllable.
- 2 syllables
- Stress on KUR
- Sounds like kernel
- Checked in Cambridge and Oxford
IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. The recording is American English.
Colonel, sound by sound
Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.
US American English/ˈkɝː.nəl/
KURstressed
- /k/as in cat
- /ɝː/as in bird (US)
nl
- /n/as in now
- /ə/as in about
- /l/as in leg
UK British English/ˈkɜː.nəl/
KURstressed
- /k/as in cat
- /ɜː/as in bird (UK)
nl
- /n/as in now
- /ə/as in about
- /l/as in leg
Say colonel yourself
Press the microphone and say it once. Your browser writes down what it hears: if it writes colonel, you were understood. If it writes another word, you see which sound changed.
Tip. The first syllable is KUR, like kernel. There is no L sound in it.
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colonel
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Common colonel pronunciation mistakes
What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say KUR-nl.
Not
kol-uh-NELReading the spelling: three syllables and the stress at the end. Say two syllables, stress the first.
Not
KOL-nlKeeping the L. The first syllable has an R sound in American English and an ur vowel in British English, never an L.
Not
kur-NELStressing the second syllable. Put the weight on KUR and keep nl short.
Colonel in a sentence
Hear each one, slow it down, then say it. Words change a little when they join others, so practise them in sentences too.
The colonel gave the order to move at dawn.
My grandfather retired from the air force as a colonel.
In the army, a colonel ranks above a lieutenant colonel.
Why is colonel pronounced kernel?
English took the word from French in the 1540s as coronel, with an R. The French word came from the Italian colonnello, the officer who led a small column of soldiers at the head of a regiment.
In the 1580s, writers changed the English spelling to match the Italian, with an L. For a time both pronunciations were heard, with R and with L. Around 1650 speech settled on the R form, while the spelling kept the L.
So the spelling tells you where the word came from, not how to say it. Read it as kernel and you will be right in both American and British English.
Words that sound like colonel
Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.
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