Downloaded 91 times
Uploaded byJo Rhys-Jones
Key French sounds & spellings
The document provides an overview of key French pronunciation rules and spelling patterns. It discusses vowels, tricky consonants like c and g, nasal sounds, and regular spelling patterns like ou and au/eau. It also covers graphemes that can represent multiple sounds, like ail/eil, silent letters, and rules of elision and liaison when words are joined. The goal is to give learners a general reference for French phonics and orthography.
More Related Content
Similar to Key French sounds & spellings
Key French sounds & spellings
- 1. KEY FRENCH SOUNDS& SPELLINGS (A VERY GENERAL & SIMPLIFIED REFERENCE) Prior learning: Following on from the alphabet! Jo Rhys-Jones, November 2011 Talkabout Primary Languages
- 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS: vowels tricky consonants nasal phonemes on/an/en, in/ain/ein regular graphemes ou, au/eau, gn, ph graphemes which make more than one sound silent letters elision & liaison
- 3. VOYELLES: a e é è-ê i-y o u
- 4. A a chat
- 5. E – SAMESOUND MADE BY EU / ŒU le me e ne je neuf œuf deux
- 6. É – SAMESOUND MADE BY ER/EZ décembre é regarder levez la main! café bébé éléphant
- 7. È-Ê SAME SOUND MADE BY AI/EI/ET è-ê tête frère pêche père mère zèbre
- 8. I-Y dix i-y six Yvonne stylo lit bicyette
- 9. o - SAMESOUND MADE BY O O – CAN ALSO BE A SHORT Ô/AU/EAU SOUND piano carotte vélo, pot, hôtel, pomme, bol, beau, chaud docteur
- 10. U Put your finger in your mouth like a lollipop. u Remove your finger but keep your lips still. Without moving your lips, try to say ‘ee’ That is the French sound ‘u’. sucette
- 11. TRICKY CONSONANTS: c g h s t w y
- 12. c SOFT WHEN FOLLOWED BY E OR I USUALLY A HARD SOUND same sound as ç cinéma carotte police, France, cent, crayon, sac, café, cinq, délicieux, banc, caméra... garçon...
- 13. g SOFT WHEN FOLLOWED BY E USUALLY A HARD SOUND OR I gorille garage gomme, guitare, pigeon, orange, genou, catalogue, regarder... girafe,
- 14. H IS SILENT h thé héros hôtel
- 15. s HARD WHEN BETWEEN 2 USUALLY A SOFT SOUND VOWELS poisson oiseau sac, soupe, cuisine, visite, classe, danser... rose, musique, chemise
- 16. t USUALLY THE SAME EXCEPTIONS – CAN CHANGE TO S SOUND WHEN SOUND AS IN ENGLISH FOLLOWED BY I tomate dictionnaire tulipe, tarte, direction, addition, moto, minute... patience, essentiel… Do these words make a normal t sound in
- 17. W IS ONLYUSED IN WORDS THAT ARE BORROWED FROM OTHER LANGUAGES w - MAKES THE SAME SOUND AS IN ENGLISH kiwi wagon EXCEPT: le wc
- 18. y BUT SAME SOUND AS IN USUALLY SAME SOUND ENGLISH WHEN BETWEEN 2 AS FRENCH I VOWELS stylo crayon Yvonne, cycliste, Nancy joyeux, loyal, lycée, pyjama... incroyable, voyage…
- 19. NASAL PHONEMES, : on/an/en Purists will rightly argue there is a very subtle difference between on and an/en but it’s highly unlikely to be noticable up to GCSE level so I leave that to teacher discretion and the level of your class… in/ain/ein
- 20. ON/AN/EN: ALSO OM/AM/EM bonjour on danse om an dentiste tombola lampe am en chambre décembre em mouton enfants
- 21. IN/AIN/EIN: ALSO IM vin in intelligent ain train demain lapin im ein peinture important pain ceinture
- 22. REGULAR GRAPHEMES: ou e/eu/oeu oi é/ez/er au/eau/ô è/ai/ei/et ph gn
- 23. OU: ALWAYS MAKESTHE SAME SOUND ou bouche souris moutarde
- 24. E/EU/ŒU: ALWAYS MAKETHE SAME SOUND le e me ne eu je neuf œu œuf deux
- 25. OI: ALWAYS MAKESTHE SAME SOUND oi trois étoile histoire
- 26. É/EZ/ER: MAKE THESAME SOUND décembre é levez la main! nez ez janvier er café jouer
- 27. AU/EAU/Ô: MAKE THESAME SOUND o hôtel jaune moto ô oiseau au eau bateau taureau
- 28. È/Ê/AI/EI/ET: ALL MAKETHE SAME SOUND è frère fête ê chaise baleine ai neige Paul et Liliane ei et robinet j’aime
- 29. PH: MAKES THESAME SOUND AS FRENCH F ph téléphone alphabet éléphant
- 30. GN: ALWAYS MAKESTHE SAME SOUND gn araignée signal champignon
- 31. GRAPHEMES WITH MORETHAN ONE SOUND: ch ill ail/eil/euil/ouil
- 32. ch BUT HARD SOUND WHEN A USUALLY A SOFT GREEK WORD – OFTEN SOUND: BEFORE R OR L Chef Chrétien Charlotte, marché, chat orchestre, chœur, champagne, chocolat... chronique, technique…
- 33. ill SOME EXCEPTIONS WHEN USUALLY A SOFTENED THE L SOUND IS SOUND: PRONOUNCED: Famille Million fille, vanille, gorille village, ville, mille gentille, habiller… tranquille
- 34. AIL/EIL/EUIL/OUIL: MAKE SIMILAR SOUND abeille ail eil travail bouteille euil soleil feuille ouil nouille médaille bouillir
- 35. Silent letters USUALLY THEFINAL BUT THE LETTERS B C F K L CONSONANT IS NOT Q R USUALLY ARE PRONOUNCED: PRONOUNCED: mouton club éléphant, lit, lapin snob, flic, chef, anorak trois, froid, abricot… avril, cinq, hiver Exceptions: ours, sud, autobus, tennis, Exceptions: blanc, porc, clef, -er infinitives some names,
- 36. ELISION/LIAISON: when aword that ends in a normally silent consonant is followed by a word that begins with a vowel or silent h, then the consonant is pronounced – usually... petit le petit éléphant
Editor's Notes
- #36 Ican not includeevery exception here, sojust the mostcommon.