French Alphabet and Pronunciation

French Alphabet & Pronunciation

French Alphabet and Pronunciation

French Alphabet

• a = ahh • b = bay • c = say• d = day• e = euh• f = eff• g = jay• h = ash• i = eeeee• j = jee• k = ka• 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

French Alphabet and Pronunciation

• Final consonants are usually silent: Paris (pa-ree).

• However, the consonants C, R, F & L are usually pronounced at the end of words.

French Alphabet and Pronunciation

Common exceptions where the last letter can be heard include:

• Août (August)• Cinq (five)• Sept (seven) (can hear ‘t’ but not the

‘p’!!)• Huit (eight)• Neuf (nine)

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 accent aigu• È accent grave• Ê accent circonflexe• Ë trema• Ç cedille

French Alphabet and Pronunciation

‘ç’ (cedille) changes the ‘C’ (K) into an ‘S’ sound for C followed by A, O or U. C already makes the ‘S’ sound

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)

French Alphabet and Pronunciation

‘h’ is not pronounced hôtel (ohtel), homard (omar) (lobster).

• Horrible (horrible)• Henri (Henry)• Hôpital (hospital)

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’ • Qui (who)• Quitter (to leave – can also say

‘partir’)• Cinq (five)

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)

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)

French Alphabet and Pronunciation

‘u’ = oo e.g. sur (soor) (on)

• Jus (juice)• Université (university)• Rugby (rugby)• Jupe (skirt)• Musique (music)

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?!

French Alphabet and Pronunciation

Bravo!