Language Learning Factory

Just like English, French pronunciation, too, can be quite complicated and baffling at times. Unending rules, silent letters, a single letter having multiple sounds, French has it all.

Although many French words will appear quite similar to English words, and you’ll easily be able to identify them, their pronunciations will slightly differ.We have tried to simplify the pronunciations for you to get started with speaking French.

Vowels
a sounds like ‘a’ of bat.
E.g. – quatre (four)
e sounds like ‘e’ in mister
E.g. – un feu (fire), dedans (inside)
é with an acute accent sounds like ‘a’ in fate
E.g. - échec (failure), fiancé (fiance)
Also, any French word ending in ‘er’ is pronounced like é.
è with a grave accent sounds like ‘e’ in then
E.g. - exprès (express), près (close)
Except in single syllable words like le (luh), je (zhuh); if ‘e’ appears at the end of a word, it is silent.
i sounds like ‘ee’ in meet
E.g. – cité (city), dix (ten)
o sounds like ‘o’ in dot
E.g. – poste (po-st), objet (ob-zhay)
ô with a circumflex accent (ô) sounds like ‘o’ in mole
E.g. - métro (subway), pôle (pole)
u sounds like ‘oo’ in root
E.g. - rue (street)
â,î,ô,û are pronounced like a,i,o,u
E.g. - hôpital (hospital), château (castle)

Combined letters
au sounds like ‘o’ in rope
E.g. - baume (balm)
ch sounds like ‘sh’ in shampoo
E.g. – château (castle)
ei sounds like ‘e’ in hen
E.g. - peine (pain)
eu sounds like ‘e’ in the
E.g. - deux (two)
er, ez sound like ‘a’ in May
E.g. - manger (to eat)
eau, aud, ot sound like ‘o’ in slow
E.g. – rateau (rake)
ha is pronounced like  ‘a’ in mat
E.g. – chat (cat)
ill is pronounced like ‘y’ in yankee
E.g. – fille (girl)
oi sounds like ‘wa’ in water
E.g. - loi (law)
on, om sound like ‘awn’ in dawn
E.g. - bon (good)
ou sounds like ‘oo’ in root
E.g. - tout (all), route (root)
ti sounds like‘s’ sun
E.g. – objection (objection)
ui sounds like wi in kiwi
E.g. – pluie (rain)

Consonants
E.g. – bras (arm)
b sounds like ‘b’ of boy
E.g. – bête (beast)
c sounds like

• ‘k’ in candy, if it precedes the letters a, o, u

E.g. – col (collar), caste (cast)

• ‘s’ in sold, if it precedes the letters i, e, y

E.g. – ciment (cement)
ç sounds like s in silence
E.g. – garçon (boy)
d sounds like ‘d’ in door
E.g. – danse (dance)
f sounds like ‘f’ in food
E.g. – fromage (cheese)
g sounds like

• ‘g’ in gate, if it precedes the letters a, o, u

E.g. – gateau (cake)

• ‘j’ in jump l if it precedes the letters i, e, y

E.g. – gitan (gypsy)
h is always silent in french
E.g. – hache (ax)
j sounds like ‘j’ in jump
E.g. – janvier (january)
k sounds like ‘k’ in kite
E.g. – képi (peaked cap)
l sounds like ‘l’ in lamp
E.g. – lumière (light)
m sounds like ‘m’ in moon
E.g. – Moulin (mill)
n sounds like ‘n’ in noon
E.g. – niveau (level)
p sounds like ‘p’ in pizza
E.g. – plus (more)
q sounds like ‘q’ in boutique
E.g. – quatre (four)
r sounds like ‘r’ in room
E.g. – recherche (search)
s sounds like‘s’ in single
E.g. – savoir (know)
t sounds like ‘t’ in target
E.g. – temps (time)
v sounds like ‘v’ in valet
E.g. – vanité (vanity)
w of German origin sounds like ‘v’ in vogue
E.g. – wagon (wagon)
w of English origin sounds like ‘w’ in water
E.g. –  whisky (whisky)
x sounds like

• ‘x’ in excess, if it comes at the end of words or when ex is followed by a consonant

E.g. –  luxe (luxury)

• ‘x’ in exam, if it comes at the beginning of words or when ex is followed by a vowel or h sound

E.g. –  exemple (example)

• ‘s’ in solution, if it comes at the end of words, in some words

E.g. –  dix (ten)

• is silent if it comes at the end of words for genders or plurals

E.g. –  chevaux (horses)
y sounds like ‘y’ in young
E.g. – yack (yak)
z sounds like ‘z’ in zoo
E.g. – zéro (zero)