French pronunciation: every sound, silent letter and liaison rule, with audio

French vowels

French has more vowel sounds than spellings to write them, so one sound often has several spellings (o, au, eau are all [o]). The vowels are tense and pure: they never glide into a "y" or "w" the way English "day" and "go" do. Three of them — u, eu and the œu of sœur — are rounded front vowels: you make them with the tongue of one vowel and the lips of another.

French consonants

Most French consonants are close to English, with two habits to drop: p, t and k have no puff of air, and t, d, n and l touch the back of the upper teeth rather than the ridge behind them. The real work is the r, the j, and knowing which letters to skip.

The French alphabet and accent marks

French uses the same 26 letters as English, with different names (a, bé, cé, dé…), plus accent marks that change how a vowel sounds: é is the closed [e] of été, è and ê the open [ɛ] of mère, ç is an s, and two dots (ë, ï) mean the vowel is said on its own.

Every letter's name with audio, the accent marks in detail and how to spell words out loud are on the French alphabet page linked below.

Silent letters: which final letters you say

Silent final letters are why French looks harder than it is. The rules below cover the vast majority of words.

Liaison, enchaînement and élision

French is spoken in linked groups, not word by word. Three mechanisms do the linking, and liaison is the one that changes what you say.

Stress and rhythm

French words have no stressed syllable of their own. Instead, each rhythm group — a short phrase that belongs together — gets a slightly longer last syllable, and every other syllable is even. "Je voudrais un café" has one beat, on -fé.

This is why English speakers sound English in French even with perfect sounds: they stress the first syllable of words that look English. Restaurant is res-tau-RANT, important is im-por-TANT, Paris is pa-RIS — and in a sentence, even those shift their weight to the end of the phrase.

The 8 mistakes English speakers make in French

1. 1

   Pronouncing silent final consonants

   Paris without the s, petit without the t, vous without the s. The spelling keeps letters the speech dropped centuries ago.

   Parispetitvous
2. 2

   Using the English r

   For an English r the tongue pulls back and bunches up. French r is made at the back with the tongue tip down. A light, breathy friction is better than a heavy gargle.

   rougemercitrès
3. 3

   Saying u like ou

   tu, rue and dessus need the rounded front u. Said with "oo" they become tout, roue and dessous — different words.

   turuedessus
4. 4

   Adding an n or ng after nasal vowels

   bon is not "bone" or "bong", and vin is not "van". End on the vowel and let the air go through the nose.

   bonvintemps
5. 5

   Gliding é and o

   English "day" and "go" end with a y or w. French café ends on a clean [e], and beau on a clean [o].

   cafébeau
6. 6

   Stressing the first syllable

   English cognates pull you into English stress. Keep syllables even and give the extra length to the last syllable of the phrase.

   restaurantimportant
7. 7

   Puffing p, t and k

   English p, t, k are aspirated at the start of a word; French ones are not. "Papa" should not blow out a candle.

   papatablequatre
8. 8

   Skipping required liaisons

   "Les amis" without the z sounds like "les a-mis" with a gap — and "ils ont" without it means "ils sont" (they are), not "they have".

   les amisils ont

Minimal pairs: words that differ by one sound

Each pair below differs by a single sound — and means something different. Listen to both, then say them. These are the contrasts that decide whether a French speaker understands you.