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How to pronounce jalapeno

Jalapeno is pronounced hah-luh-PAY-nyoh in American English and hal-uh-PAY-nyoh in British English. It has four syllables, and the stress is on the third, PAY. The j is an h sound.

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  • 4 syllables
  • Stress on PAY
  • US and UK IPA
  • Checked in Cambridge and Oxford

jalapeno

Four syllables, stress on the third

noun · a hot green chili pepper from Mexico

  1. hahhɑː
  2. luhlə
  3. PAYpeɪ (stressed)
  4. nyohnjoʊ
  • US /ˌhɑː.ləˈpeɪ.njoʊ/hah-luh-PAY-nyoh Recorded voice
  • UK /ˌhæl.əˈpeɪ.njəʊ/hal-uh-PAY-nyoh Your device’s voice

IPA checked in the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. The recording is American English.

Jalapeno, sound by sound

Each sound in the IPA, with a word you already know that has it.

US American English/ˌhɑː.ləˈpeɪ.njoʊ/

  1. hah

    • /h/as in hat
    • /ɑː/as in father

  2. luh

    • /l/as in leg
    • /ə/as in about

  3. PAYstressed

    • /p/as in pen
    • /eɪ/as in day

  4. nyoh

    • /n/as in now
    • /j/as in yes
    • /oʊ/as in go (US)

UK British English/ˌhæl.əˈpeɪ.njəʊ/

  1. hal

    • /h/as in hat
    • /æ/as in cat
    • /l/as in leg

  2. uh

    • /ə/as in about

  3. PAYstressed

    • /p/as in pen
    • /eɪ/as in day

  4. nyoh

    • /n/as in now
    • /j/as in yes
    • /əʊ/as in go (UK)

Say jalapeno yourself

Press the microphone and say it once. Your browser writes down what it hears: if it writes jalapeno, you were understood. If it writes another word, you see which sound changed.

Tip. The j is h. Say hah-luh-PAY-nyoh. The ñ is ny, as in canyon. The stress is on PAY.

Record yourself and play it next to our recording: the quickest way to hear a difference.

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jalapeno

    Common jalapeno pronunciation mistakes

    What people often say instead, and how to fix it. Say hah-luh-PAY-nyoh.

    • NotJAL-uh-PEE-noh

      Reading j as in jam and dropping the ny. It is common, but it is not the Spanish form.

    • Notjah-luh-PAYN-oh

      Reading the j as in jam and splitting the ny. The spelling ñ is ny.

    • Nothah-luh-PEN-yoh

      Using a short e in the stressed syllable. It is PAY.

    Jalapeno 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.

    • I added a sliced jalapeno to the burger.

    • The jalapeno was much hotter than I expected.

    • She makes jalapeno cheese bread.

    How do you say jalapeno?

    Jalapeno is Spanish, so the j is the h sound, as in hot. The word has four syllables: hah, luh, PAY, nyoh. The stress is on the third one.

    The ñ in the Spanish spelling jalapeño is the ny sound, as in canyon and onion. In English the tilde is often dropped, but the sound stays: nyoh.

    The name comes from Jalapa, a city in Mexico. Many English speakers say JAL-uh-PEE-noh, which Dictionary.com and Collins also list. Cambridge and Oxford give the Spanish-style form with PAY-nyoh. For the best match to the dictionaries, use that one.

    Words that sound like jalapeno

    Rhymes and words that share its tricky sound. Open any of them in the checker and say it.

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