English pronunciation · Words Starting with B
Banal Pronunciation
Banal is pronounced buh-NAHL, IPA /bəˈnɑl/.
buh-NAHL
US /bəˈnɑl/ · UK /ˈbeɪnəl/
Syllables: buh · NAHL (2 syllables, stress on syllable 2)
adjective: So ordinary and predictable that it is boring.
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Banal in a Sentence
- The speech was banal from start to finish.
- They made banal small talk about the weather.
- What sounded profound at the time now reads as banal.
Common Mispronunciations of Banal
Not BA-nuhl
Drive the voice into NAHL at the end. The front-stressed version exists in older dictionaries but sounds dated now.
Not buh-NAL
The stressed vowel is the open ah of father, so the word rhymes with canal only loosely.
Tip: Americans mostly say buh-NAHL. British speakers often say buh-NAL, rhyming it with canal, and some say BAY-nuhl. All three are recorded.
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