This document provides an introduction to basic elements of the French language, including: 1) The French alphabet and numbers 1-20. 2) An overview of French accent marks - acute, grave, cedilla, circumflex, and diaeresis - and explanations of how they affect pronunciation. 3) A discussion of silent letters in French words and exceptions for final consonant pronunciation. 4) A note that spoken French differs from English.

1. (Leçon 1)
Introduction to the french language.
(Introduction à la langue française)

2. The French Alphabet
(L’alphabet français )

3. Numbers 1-20
(Les nombres de 1 à 20)

4. Accent Marks
(Les accents)
 Acute accent (L’accent aigu)
 Grave accent (L’accent grave)
 Cedilla (la cédille)
 Circumflex (la circonflexe)
 Diaeresis (le tréma)

5. Acute accent
(L’accent aigu)
- “ Left hand accent” or “Left hand salute” é only
Makes an “ay” sound French.

6. Grave accent
(L’accent grave)
 “Right hand accent” or “Right hand salute” à, è, ù
Does not change sound, but makes the word
pronounceable

7. Cedilla (la cédille)
Turns a “c” from a “kuh” to “sss” Ç.

8. Circumflex (la circonflexe)
Does not change the sound, this is a vestige from
Old French It only affects writing â, ê, î, ô, û.

9. Diaeresis
(le tréma)
Used when two vowels are next to each other and
are meant to be pronounced separately ë, ï

10. Silent Letters
(Les lettres muettes)
 In French, some letters are not pronounced,
particularly at the end of words
 Final –e: The final –e is not usually pronounced
Madam e, Phillip e
 Final –s: The final –s is not usually pronounced Loui s,
Charle s, trè s
 Final consonants are not usually pronounced, the usual
exceptions are: -c, -r, -f, -l, -k *Remember to be
CaReFuL* which final consonants are pronounced
Rober t, Alber t, Eric, Marc, Raoul
 H is never pronounced* L’ h ôtel, L’ h ôpital, L’ h omme
* There is the h aspiré

12. Differences between English and French
(Les différence entre l’anglais et le français)
Spoken French differs from English *Valette, Jean-Paul, and Rebecca
M. Valette. Contacts: Lange et culture françaises. New York: Houghton
Mifflin Company, 2001.

13. Merci