French Pronunciation - Master French Sounds
42 flashcards · Beginner · Language Learning
Learn to pronounce the distinctive sounds of French through real, common example words — nasal vowels, accented vowels, the French U, tricky consonants, and silent letters and liaison — each with an English-friendly respelling, a clear rule, and native-speaker audio.
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grand
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Nasal Vowels
Big, tall (m.). The 'an' spelling gives the nasal /ɑ̃/ — open your mouth wide and let the vowel resonate through the nose; the 'n' and final 'd' are not pronounced.
grand
Pronunciation
GRAHN
What you'll learn
- How the spellings an, en, on, in, and un become nasal vowels through the nose
- What each accent (aigu, grave, circonflexe, tréma, cédille) does to a letter
- The u vs ou contrast that changes meaning (rue/roue, sur/sous)
- The uvular French R and the sounds of gn, ill, ch, and j
- Why final consonants are usually silent, and how liaison adds a 'z' between words
- A real, common French word for every sound, with native-speaker audio
What's inside: all 42 cards
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Nasal Vowels · 9
- grand/ GRAHN /
- Big, tall (m.). The 'an' spelling gives the nasal /ɑ̃/ — open your mouth wide and let the vowel resonate through the nose; the 'n' and final 'd' are not pronounced.
- enfant/ ahn-FAHN /
- Child (m./f.). Both 'en' and 'an' make the same nasal /ɑ̃/ — a wide, open nasal vowel; the final 't' is silent.
- temps/ TAHN /
- Time; also weather (m.). Here 'em' is the nasal /ɑ̃/, and the ending '-ps' is completely silent.
- bonjour/ bohn-ZHOOR /
- Hello. The 'on' spelling gives the nasal /ɔ̃/ — a rounded 'oh' sent through the nose, with no hard 'n'.
- nom/ NOHN /
- Name (m.). 'om' makes the nasal /ɔ̃/ — the same rounded nasal 'oh' as in 'bon'; the 'm' is not pronounced.
- vin/ VAN /
- Wine (m.). 'in' makes the nasal /ɛ̃/ — a bright nasal vowel (like a nasalized 'a' in 'man'), with no hard 'n'.
- pain/ PAN /
- Bread (m.). The 'ain' spelling also makes the nasal /ɛ̃/, exactly like 'vin' — nasal vowel, no 'n' sound.
- un/ UHN /
- One; a/an (indefinite article). 'un' is the nasal /œ̃/ — a rounded nasal vowel; the 'n' is not pronounced.
- brun/ BRUHN /
- Brown (m.; f. brune). 'un' makes the nasal /œ̃/, the same rounded nasal vowel as the article 'un'.
Accented Vowels · 10
- été/ ay-TAY /
- Summer (m.); also 'been' (past participle of être). é (accent aigu) = a closed 'ay' sound /e/, tighter than English 'ay' and with no glide.
- près/ PREH /
- Near, close. è (accent grave) = an open 'eh' sound /ɛ/, like the 'e' in 'bet'; the final 's' is silent.
- fête/ FET /
- Party, celebration (f.). ê (accent circonflexe) = the same open 'eh' /ɛ/; the circumflex marks an 's' that was lost long ago (Old French 'feste').
- âge/ AHZH /
- Age (m.). â (circonflexe on a) = a deeper, longer 'ah' /ɑ/, made further back in the mouth than a plain 'a'.
- hôtel/ oh-TEL /
- Hotel (m.). ô (circonflexe on o) = a closed 'oh' /o/; the 'h' is silent, as it always is in French.
- où/ OO /
- Where. The grave accent on ù only tells it apart from 'ou' (or) in writing — the sound is the same 'oo' /u/. ù appears in no other French word.
- naïf/ nah-EEF /
- Naive (m.; f. naïve). ï (tréma) tells you to pronounce the two vowels separately: 'nah-EEF', not one blended sound.
- île/ EEL /
- Island (f.). î (circonflexe on i) = a plain 'ee' /i/; the circumflex marks a lost 's' (compare English 'isle').
- ça/ SAH /
- That, it. ç (c-cédille) forces a soft 's' sound before a, o, or u — without the cedilla, 'ca' would be a hard 'k'.
- sœur/ SUHR /
- Sister (f.). œ (o-e ligature, 'e dans l'o') is written as a single letter and gives the 'uh' vowel /œ/, as in 'cœur' (heart).
The French U vs OU · 8
- tu/ TEW /
- You (informal). The French 'u' /y/ has no English equivalent: round your lips as if to say 'oo', but say 'ee' instead.
- vous/ VOO /
- You (formal or plural). 'ou' is a plain 'oo' /u/, as in English 'food' — contrast it with the tight 'u' in 'tu'.
- rue/ REW /
- Street (f.). 'u' = the rounded French 'u' /y/ ('ee' with rounded lips) — compare 'roue' (wheel), which uses 'oo'.
- roue/ ROO /
- Wheel (f.). 'ou' = a plain 'oo' /u/. 'rue' vs 'roue' is the key minimal pair: /y/ versus /u/.
- sur/ SEWR /
- On, on top of. 'u' = the front rounded 'u' /y/. Don't confuse 'sur' (on) with 'sous' (under).
- sous/ SOO /
- Under. 'ou' = a back 'oo' /u/. Pair it with 'sur' to hear the u/ou contrast.
- lune/ LEWN /
- Moon (f.). 'u' = the rounded French 'u' /y/; keep the lips tight and pushed forward.
- loup/ LOO /
- Wolf (m.). 'ou' = a plain 'oo' /u/; the final 'p' is silent.
Tricky Consonants · 8
- rouge/ ROOZH /
- Red. The French 'r' /ʁ/ is uvular — made at the back of the throat, like a light gargle, not the English tongue-tip 'r'. (The final '-ge' is the soft 'zh' sound.)
- montagne/ mohn-TAHN-yuh /
- Mountain (f.). 'gn' = /ɲ/, the 'ny' sound in 'canyon' — one soft blended sound, not 'g' plus 'n'.
- famille/ fah-MEE-yuh /
- Family (f.). Here 'ill' = a 'y' glide /j/ ('fah-MEE-yuh'), not an 'l' sound.
- chat/ SHAH /
- Cat (m.). French 'ch' = 'sh' /ʃ/, as in 'shoe' — never the hard 'ch' of English 'church'; the final 't' is silent.
- je/ ZHUH /
- I. French 'j' = the soft 'zh' /ʒ/, the 's' sound in 'measure' — never the hard English 'j' of 'jam'.
- ville/ VEEL /
- City, town (f.). Exception: in 'ville', 'mille', and 'tranquille', 'ill' keeps a real 'l' sound /il/ — unlike 'famille'.
- maison/ meh-ZOHN /
- House (f.). A single 's' between two vowels is pronounced 'z' /z/, so it's 'meh-ZOHN'. (A doubled 'ss' would stay 's'.)
- qui/ KEE /
- Who. 'qu' = a plain 'k' /k/ — the 'u' is silent and there is no 'kw' sound as in English 'quick'.
Silent Letters & Liaison · 7
- petit/ puh-TEE /
- Small, little (m.; f. petite). Most final consonants in French are silent, so the 't' here is not pronounced: 'puh-TEE'.
- les/ LAY /
- The (plural article). Before a consonant the final 's' is silent, so 'les livres' is just 'lay LEEV-ruh' — no 's' sound.
- beaucoup/ boh-KOO /
- A lot, very much. The final 'p' is silent ('boh-KOO'). Bonus spellings: 'eau' = 'oh' and 'ou' = 'oo'.
- nez/ NAY /
- Nose (m.). The final 'z' is silent, so 'nez' is simply 'nay' — it rhymes with 'les'.
- les amis/ lay-zah-MEE /
- The friends. Liaison: the normally-silent 's' of 'les' links onto the following vowel and is pronounced 'z' — 'lay-zah-MEE'.
- vous avez/ voo-zah-VAY /
- You have. Another liaison: the silent 's' of 'vous' links as 'z' before the vowel of 'avez' — 'voo-zah-VAY'.
- l'homme/ LOM /
- The man. French 'h' is always silent (h muet), so 'le homme' contracts (elides) to 'l'homme', pronounced 'LOM'.
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