Pronunciation Vowel Sounds
The Elision
Sound
Spelled
As in English
French Word
ah
a, â
card
la tasse
uh
e, eu
but
le petit
ay
é, ez, er, et
take
les cafés
eh
è, ê, ai
there
la mère
ee
i, y
igloo
vite
o
o, ô, au, eau
boat
l’eau
oh
o
love
la pomme
oo
ou
you
l’amour
wah
oi, oy
watch
la soie
ew
u
salut
ahN
an, en
grand
aN
ain, in, un, aim, im
pain
ohN
on
bon
Tricky Consonants Sound Spelled
As in English
French Word
s
ss (between 2 vowels) c (in front of e & i) ç (in front of a, o, u)
sole
poisson ciel garçon
g
g (in front of a, o, u) gu (in front of e and i)
greed
gâteau guerre
zh
j, g (in front of e & i)
azure
jour, genou
sh
ch
ship
chapeau
ny
gn
canyon
montagne
The letter “h” is always silent in French. Just ignore it. For example: les heures, l’hôpital, l’hôtel, les Halles.
When a word ends with an “e” or an “a”, and is followed by a word starting with a vowel, the first “e” or “a” disappears and is replaced by an apostrophe. Here are some examples: la + école = l’école je + aime = j’aime le + enfant = l’enfant
The Liaison The last consonant of a word is linked with the vowel which beings the following word. This is very important to French pronunciation. The more you practice, the more “French” you will sound. Here are some examples: C’est_un petit_appartement. Vous_êtes mon_ami despuis six_ans. The liaison is NOT systematic. There are exceptions. One important exception is for words following the word et which means and. un livre et un crayon un hôtel et un taxi un homme et une femme