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Dont be too hard on yourself when you cant fully grasp the pronunciation rules after a few
hours of practice. It takes time to learn how to pronounce French words properly months, in
fact. Besides, its extremely rare to see a foreigner with a 100% correct pronunciation. But does
it really matter? France is a hugely multicultural country and the French people are quite familiar
(and accepting!) with a wide range of accent. So dont beat yourself to a pulp, and just keep
practising until you start to pull off French quite nicely.
T he study method and guide presented below are targeted f or English speakers, and it will help you grasp
the pronunciation rules better. It could get tricky f or newbie learners, but with regular practice in speaking
and reading, you should be able to to do quite well soon enough. Remember, you dont need to memorize
these rules by heart, but by just ref erring to this page every once in a while, youll get there in no time. So
bookmark this page and study the guide as of ten as youd like. It will be ingrained in your system bef ore you
know it.
Here we go!
When compared to the English language, French has a more distinct sound and a f lat intonation. T he
stress is mostly even except f or the last syllable which is being given a tad bit more of an emphasis. Check
out this example where we will use the word IMPORTANT. Notice the dif f erence in the stress between the
two:
u this sound does not exist in English; say 'oo' with rounded vu (seen)
lips
a and are both pronounced like ah in English. is also like ah, except that it is longer.
e when placed in the middle of a syllable is pronounced like ai in f air, same as and .
T he rule f or pronouncing e: in the middle of a syllable ai as in f air; at the end of a syllable, er as
in her; but when you see it at the end of a word, it is silent. (example: tasse)
What the
Consonants Pronunciation Guide Example example means
r is pronounced at the back of the throat; it is quite similar to rire (to laugh)
the sound we make
when are gargling.
Except f or these letters: c, f, l, and r, consonants are usually not pronounced when it is the last letter of
the word. Take f or example the silent last letters in the f ollowing words:
1. It is produced by blocking air f rom leaving the mouth and released instead through the nose.
2. T hese sounds are voiced which means the vocal cords vibrate to create the sound.
Sounds dif f icult? Not actually. In f act, the English language has three nasal sounds too, namely the m
sound, the n sound, and the ng sound. And we are using these to speak f lawlessly (or not!) everyday.
Try saying the words sing, sang, song and sung and notice the f ollowing:
the letter g is given very little value in the standard pronunciation, and
as you pronounce the words, air is blocked when the back of your tongue presses against the sof t
palate.
French has f our nasal sounds which are more similar to its English counterparts than we realize.
We mentioned that there are f our nasal French sounds but you must be wondering why there are f ive listed.
T his is because some French speakers do not make distinctions between um* and im* and both are being
pronounced as ang like we do in sang.
er at the end of a word of two syllables or more sounds parler (to speak)
like 'ay'
To recap,
er (when at the end of a word with two or more syllables) and ez are both pronounced like ay.
As an exception to the C,F,L,R consonants pronunciation rule presented earlier, L when used in the
syllables ail and eil, are generally silent.
For sure youre quite f amiliar with the gn sound already. Especially if youre the lasagna-eating type.
To get this delightf ully melodious sound in intonation, heres a simple rule f or you to remember:
If a word that begins with a vowel or a silent H f ollows a word which ends in a consonant, the consonant is
linked to the beginning of the second word.
Result: the consonant in the end of the f irst word is automatically linked to the beginning vowel of the
second word.
1. nous avons the 1st word ends with the consonant s while the 2nd word begins with a vowel.
1. un petit enf ant petit ends with a consonant while enf ant begins with a vowel.
the acute accent () or laccent aigu which can be f ound in the letter e.
the grave accent () or laccent grave which can be f ound in the letters a, e, and u; and
the circumf lex () or laccent circonflexe which can be f ound in any vowel.
In addition, there is also the cedilla () or la cdille which can be f ound only underneath the letter c; and the
diaeresis () or le trma which is of ten used to indicate that the second vowel is to be pronounced
separately f rom the f irst (e.g. naf naive and nol Christmas).
First, they are used to change how a letter sounds. Lets take f or example the letter e.
For the cedilla, remember the rule discussed earlier wherein c is only pronounced as a sof t s when placed
bef ore an e or i? T he cedilla totally changes that. Take f or example the word garon (which means boy). It
precedes an o which means it should be pronounced as a hard c as in car, but the cedilla sof tens the
letter to make it sound like s as in sit.
Second, accent marks are used to dif f erentiate between similarly spelled words which have dif f erent
meanings.
Examples:
T heres something very interesting about the accents though. In modern usage, French accents usually do
not appear in capital letters because it is already deemed unnecessary. T he Acadmie Franaise, however,
maintains that it should be used at all times in order to avoid conf usion.
But do take note of the f ollowing while reading the examples shown in this guide:
ng (italics) must never be pronounced; these letters merely indicate that the preceding vowel
has a nasal sound.
er (r italics) do not pronounce the r; this syllable sounds like er in her.
zh sounds like s in measure.
no equivalent in English; round your lips and say ee.
o sounds like o in not.
oh sounds like o in note.
G (zhay) N (en) U ()
Try to practice saying these pronunciations as of ten as you can as this would help you in your f urther
learning. Remember, just like any other skill, all it takes is determination and consistency f or you to develop
the habit. Being exposed to a lot of French language in movies, videos, and even audio books can help you
f amilliarize with the words and sounds, and make it easier to learn them.
Bef ore we end this pronunciation guide, here are a f ew videos f or you to check out. Never mind that some
of the pronunciations are not 100% French, the important thing is that you are able to listen and compare it
with your recent learnings.
We wish you the best of luck in your French studies and dont f orget to keep visiting this site f or more
usef ul inf ormation! For more inf ormation or comments, please dont hesitate to let us know.
A bientt!
P.S. You would be doing me a HUGE FAVOR by sharing it via Twitter, Facebook, Google + or Pinterest.