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Alphabet and pronunciation
The document provides information on French alphabet pronunciation including: - Each letter of the French alphabet and its pronunciation in English (e.g. a = ahh, b = bay, etc.). - Common pronunciation rules like final consonants often being silent and some letter combinations having standard pronunciations (e.g. 'eau' = oh, 'oi' = wa). - Exceptions to the rules are noted. - Examples are given for each letter and combination to illustrate typical French pronunciations.
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Alphabet and pronunciation
- 1. French Alphabet and Pronunciation FrenchAlphabet & Pronunciation
- 2. French Alphabet and Pronunciation FrenchAlphabet • a = ahh • b = bay • c = say • d = day • e = ur • f = eff • g = jay • h = ash • i = eeeee • j = jee • k = kar • l = ell • m = em • n = en • o = oh • p = pay • q = kuh • r = air • s = ess • t = tay • u = ew • v = vay • w = dooble vay • x = eeks • y = eeee grec • Z = zed
- 3. French Alphabet and Pronunciation FrenchPronunciation • French can be a challenge to pronounce but not impossible! Persevere and keep coming back to this practice. Also remember people tend to like it when people have an accent so don’t worry if you have one… it’s cute… unless you’re being rude!! Following are a few pointers but irritatingly there are a lot of exceptions (as there are in the English language) but most of the time the following rules apply:
- 4. French Alphabet and Pronunciation •Final consonants are often silent: Paris (pa-ree), Londres (loñdr). • However, sometimes the ending is pronounced if it is followed by a word which begins with a vowel: avez-vous (avay voo) but vous avez (vooz avay).
- 5. French Alphabet and Pronunciation Commonexceptions where the last letter can be heard include: • Août (August) • Avec (with) • Cinq (five) • Sept (seven) (can hear ‘t’ but not the ‘p’!!) • Huit (eight) • Neuf (nine)
- 6. French Alphabet and Pronunciation Accents •Some but not all accents can change the sound of the letter and or the meaning of a word. The main ones are é è ç. You will come across these later. For example: • ‘manger’ (manjay) = ‘to eat’ • ‘je mange’ = ‘I eat’ • j’ai mangé (manjay) = ‘I ate.’ • Have a practice….(‘mange-tout’ means eat- everything!)
- 7. French Alphabet and Pronunciation ‘a’table (pronounced taaaable – think of the sound you make for the dentist!) • Confortable (comfortable) • Argent (money) • Adresse (address) • Abbaye (abbey) • Parents (parents)
- 8. French Alphabet and Pronunciation ‘ç’(called a cedilla) changes the ‘c’ into an ‘s’ sound the same for ‘c’ followed by ‘e’ or ‘i’ • Français (French) • Garçon (boy) • Leçon (lesson) • Ciel (sky) • C’est (it’s) • Ce n’est pas (it’s not) • Glace (icecream) • Citron (lemon)
- 9. French Alphabet and Pronunciation ‘ch’= sh e.g. chat (sha) (cat) • Chambre (bedroom) • Cher (dear both in the meaning of expensive and ‘my dear’) • Chips (crisps!!) • Prochain (next)
- 10. French Alphabet and Pronunciation ‘é’(ay) e.g. été (aytay) (summer) • Bébé (baby) • Écosse (Scotland) • Marché (market) • Enchanté (literally ‘enchanted’ but used to mean ‘delighted to meet you) • Café (coffee or a café) • Bon appétit (enjoy your meal) • Église (church) • La télé(vison) (telly/television) • Cinéma (cinema) • École (school) • Musée (museum) • Bonne journée (good day – not to be confused with journey this would be ‘voyage’ in French so when people are leaving you can say ‘bon voyage’)
- 11. French Alphabet and Pronunciation ‘È/è’(eh) e.g. très (treh) (very) • Près (near) • Frère (brother) • Père (father) • Bière (beer) • Après (after) • Première (first – like the premier league) • Derrière (behind) • La gare routière (literally the road station – we call it coach station)
- 12. French Alphabet and Pronunciation ‘eau’(oh) e.g. beau (boh) (beautiful/handsome) • Eau (water) • Agneau (lamb) • Bateau (boat) • Château (castle) • Bureau (office)
- 13. French Alphabet and Pronunciation ‘eu’(uh) e.g. neuf (nuhf) (nine) (like the end of enough with a French accent!) • Je veux (I want) • Deux (two) • Oeuf (egg) (becomes oeux in plural) • Boeuf (beef) • Je veux deux oeux = I want 2 eggs
- 14. French Alphabet and Pronunciation ‘g’+ e, i = (jay, jee) e.g. gel, gîte (jayl, jeet) • Genoux (knees) • Gémeaux (twins/Gemini) • Gérard (Gerard) • Fromage (cheese) • Étranger (foreigner) • Étrange (strange)
- 15. French Alphabet and Pronunciation ‘gn’= (ny) e.g. saignant (say-nyoñ) (rare as in cooking meat) • Oignon (onion) • Baignoire (bath) • Peigne (comb) • Saigner (to bleed) • Signaler ( to indicate)
- 16. French Alphabet and Pronunciation ‘h’is not pronounced hôtel (ohtel), homard (omar) (lobster). • Horrible (horrible) • Hor d’oeuvre (starter) • Horaire (timetable) • Henri (Henry) • Hôpital (hospital) (ô – replaces os)
- 17. French Alphabet and Pronunciation ‘i’(ee) ville (veel) (town) • Il (he/it) • Irlandais(e) Irish) • Village (village) • Cinéma (cinema) • Historique (historical) • Sandwich (sandwich)
- 18. French Alphabet and Pronunciation ‘eille’= ay e.g. Marseille (marsay) • Oreille (ear) • Oreiller (pillow) • Réveiller (to awaken)
- 19. French Alphabet and Pronunciation ‘o’(oh) disco (discoh) • Coca (Coca Cola) • La poste (post office) • Horloge (clock) • Non (no) • Pommes (apples)
- 20. French Alphabet and Pronunciation ‘oi’(wa) e.g. roi (rwa) (king) • Oie (goose) • Soit (either) • Bois (wood) • Croire (to believe) • Soir (evening) • Toit (roof)
- 21. French Alphabet and Pronunciation ‘ou’(ooh) e.g. route (rooooht) (road) • Fou (mad) • Où (where) without accent means or (ou) • Rouge (red) Feux rouge (red light on traffic lights) • Tout (all)
- 22. French Alphabet and Pronunciation ‘q’or ‘qu’ has a hard ‘k’ sound e.g. quinze (sounds like ‘cans’) (fifteen) • Quatre (four) • Quatorze (fourteen) ‘cat oars’ • Quatre – quatre (four wheel drive) • Qui (who) • Quitter (to leave – can also say ‘partir’) • Cinq (five – one of the exceptions when the last letter is pronounced)
- 23. French Alphabet and Pronunciation ‘r’is said at the back of the throat with the tongue at the bottom of the mouth (in English the ‘r’ makes the tongue go up). It sounds like a softer version of a cat trying to get rid of a furball. • Travaille (work) • Garage (garage) • Carottes rapées (grated carrots) • Tranche (slice) • Hiver (winter) • Printemps (spring) • Réserver (to reserve)
- 24. French Alphabet and Pronunciation ‘th’is pronounced just ‘t’ which is why French native speakers have a lot of problems with our th and you may hear them say ‘zat was ze zeory on zursday ze forz’ instead of ‘that was the theory on Thursday the fourth’ although I haven’t heard this sentence too often! • Thé (tea) • Thierry (Terry or Thierry as in the footballer Thierry Henri) • Cathédrale (cathedral) • Théâtre (theatre) • Thon (tuna)
- 25. French Alphabet and Pronunciation ‘u’= oo e.g. sur (soor) (on) • Jus (juice) • Université (university) • Rugby (rugby) • Jupe (skirt) • Musique (music)
- 26. French Alphabet and Pronunciation ‘ui’(wee) e.g. huit (weet) Huître (oyster) • Huile (oil) • Cuire (to cook) • Suivre (to follow) • Lui (him) • Nuit (night) • Puis-je? (may I?) • Puis-je cuire les huîtres avec l’huile pour lui cette nuit? = May I cook the oysters with oil for him this night?!
- 27. French Alphabet and Pronunciation MixturesTry these ones! • Théière (teapot) • Grenouille (frog)