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The French Alphabet
Click any letter to hear its French name. The alphabet has the same 26 letters as English but they are pronounced very differently.
Letters That Confuse English Speakers
E / É / È / Ê
/e/ closed — /ɛ/ open
é = "ay" (café) · è/ê = "eh" (fête)
é sounds like "ay" in "bay". è/ê sounds like "e" in "bed".
U
/y/
No English equivalent
Lips rounded for "oo", tongue positioned for "ee". Try: tu, rue, vu.
R
/ʁ/ uvular
Back-of-throat friction
Say "loch" (Scottish). Add voice. Never touch tongue to top of mouth.
J
/ʒ/
Like "s" in "measure"
je, jardin, jour — always this soft sound, never the English "j".
H
silent
Never pronounced
h muet allows liaison/elision: l'homme, les hommes /le.zɔm/. h aspiré blocks it: les haricots /le.a.ʁi.ko/.
W
/v/ in French words
wagon, wagonnet
In native French words, W is pronounced /v/. In borrowed words: /w/ (weekend, wifi).
French Vowel Sounds
French vowels are pure — they don't glide like English vowels. Hold the mouth position steady for the entire sound.
É / ER / EZ
/e/ — closed E
café, été, parler, parlez
Mouth corners pulled slightly back. Lips almost smile. No glide.
È / Ê / AI / EI
/ɛ/ — open E
père, fête, lait, neige
Like "e" in English "bed" but more open. Jaw drops slightly.
U
/y/
tu, rue, lune, du, vu
Round your lips for "oo" but keep tongue forward for "ee". Unique to French!
OU
/u/
vous, où, tout, rouge
Standard "oo" like English "moon". U vs OU: "tu" (you) vs "tout" (all) — very different!
EU (open syllable)
/ø/ — closed EU
peu, feu, jeu, bleu
Start with /e/ (café), then round your lips. Hold steady.
EU / OE (closed syl.)
/œ/ — open EU
peur, cœur, sœur, fleur
Like /ø/ but drop the jaw a little. "feu" /fø/ vs "fleur" /flœʁ/.
À / Â
/a/ or /ɑ/
là, voilà, pâte
â is slightly further back in the throat than a — many modern speakers merge them.
OE / Œ
/œ/ or /ø/
œil, œuvre, cœur
The œ ligature — pronounced like the open EU /œ/ sound.
Minimal Pairs — Practise the Contrast
tu / tout
you / all (/y/ vs /u/)
rue / roue
street / wheel (/y/ vs /u/)
vu / vous
seen / you (/y/ vs /u/)
peu / peur
little / fear (/ø/ vs /œ/)
café / fête
coffee / festival (/e/ vs /ɛ/)
père / paix
father / peace (/ɛ/ vs /ɛ/ — same sound!)
Nasal Vowels
Nasal vowels are produced with air flowing through both mouth and nose. The spelling contains N or M but you do NOT pronounce a separate N/M sound.
AN / EN / AM / EM
/ɑ̃/
dans, enfant, temps, blanc
Like "on" in British "song" but nasalised. Do NOT say "dans-n".
IN / AIN / EIN / IM
/ɛ̃/
vin, pain, bien, faim
Nasalised /ɛ/ — do not say "van" or "van". Keep mouth slightly open.
ON / OM
/ɔ̃/
bon, son, nom, monde
Lips rounded. Nasalised /ɔ/. Don't unround the lips at the end.
UN / UM
/œ̃/
un, parfum, lundi
Often merged with /ɛ̃/ in modern French. "un" ≈ "pain" for most speakers.
De-nasalisation Rule
When N or M is followed by another vowel or doubled, the nasal vowel becomes a regular vowel:
bon → bonne
/bɔ̃/ nasal → /bɔn/ not nasal
vin → viner
/vɛ̃/ nasal → /vine/ not nasal
canadien → canadienne
/jɛ̃/ → /jɛn/
an → année
/ɑ̃/ → /ane/
Tricky Consonants
R — Uvular Fricative /ʁ/
The French R is produced at the back of the throat, not with the tongue tip. Say the Scottish "loch" — feel friction at the uvula — then add voice (vibration). Never touch tongue tip to palate.
rougered
rarerare
rireto laugh
partirto leave
voiturecar
mercithank you
J — Soft /ʒ/ (like "s" in "measure")
The letter J in French is always /ʒ/ — like the "s" in English "measure", "treasure", "vision". It is never the hard English "j" /dʒ/ as in "jump".
jeI
jardingarden
jourday
bonjour
CH — Always /ʃ/ (like "sh")
CH in French is always /ʃ/ — the "sh" sound as in "shoe". It is never the hard /tʃ/ as in "cheese". Exception: words borrowed from Greek (choeur, Christ, technique) use /k/.
chatcat
chercher
chaudhot
chezat (my place)
GN — Always /ɲ/ (like "ny" in "canyon")
GN = /ɲ/ — the same sound as "ny" in "canyon" or "ñ" in Spanish. Never pronounced as separate G + N sounds.
montagnemountain
champagne
agneaulamb
gagnerto win
LL after AI/EI/UI — /j/ (glide)
When LL follows AI, EI, or UI, it is pronounced /j/ — a glide like "y" in "yes". In other positions, LL = just /l/ (ville, mille, tranquille are exceptions: /l/).
famillefamily /j/
travailler/j/
fillegirl /j/
villecity — exception /l/
Silent Letters
French words are typically longer to write than to say. Most final consonants are silent — this is one of the biggest traps for learners.
Final consonants — generally silent
Most consonants at the end of a word are silent: S, T, D, P, X, Z (and sometimes C). They may be sounded in liaison.
Parissilent S
petitsilent T
grandsilent D
beaucoupsilent P
voussilent S
nezsilent Z
Exceptions — final consonants that ARE pronounced
Mnemonic CaReFuL: C, R, F, L are often pronounced at the end of a word.
avecwith — C spoken
mersea — R spoken
neuf9 — F spoken
selsalt — L spoken
ilhe — L spoken
The silent E (E muet)
A final -e (without accent) is usually silent but keeps the preceding consonant voiced. In the middle of words, it may be dropped in fast speech.
grandebig (f) — D voiced
petitesmall (f) — T voiced
samediSaturday
Liaisons
A liaison is when a normally-silent final consonant is pronounced and linked to the next word, which must begin with a vowel or mute H.
Consonant sounds change in liaison: S and X become /z/ · D becomes /t/ · F becomes /v/ (neuf ans = "neuvans")