Understanding the pronunciation of the French language is one of the most valuable ways to achieve your language-learning goals. To be understood, to communicate clearly, and to make a good impression on native speakers, it’s well worth the effort to start good pronunciation habits from the beginning. Even the most advanced learners can benefit from this comprehensive French pronunciation guide.
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Top French pronunciation challenges
Many learners struggle with the sounds that are unique to the French language or aren’t common in English, such as:
- the French “u”
- nasal vowels
- the French “r”
Meet these challenges head-on by learning the intricacies of these sounds and attempting to imitate them.
The French “u” sound
Perhaps the most uniquely French of its vowels, the French “u” sound doesn’t exist in English. English speakers may not initially hear the difference between the “oo” sound in tous (all) and the “u” sound in tu (you), but the sounds do differ quite a bit.
To learn to pronounce the French “u” correctly, you can start by rounding your lips tightly as though you’re going to whistle. First, say the “oo” sound like “food.” Without changing the shape of your lips, change your sound to “ee” as in “feet.” Your tongue will change position inside your mouth, so you can tell how it feels to pronounce “u” correctly.
You’ll hear the correct French pronunciation of the “u” sound in the words:
- rue (street)
- J’ai vu (I saw)
- musique (music)
Pronounce this sound differently from “ou” in French to correctly distinguish between similar words and phrases.
- Tout va bien ? = Is everything going well?
- Tu vas bien ? = Are you doing well?
French nasal vowels
French has four nasal vowel sounds, and you’ll hear them throughout the French language.
- “on” in bonjour (hello)
- “an” in anglais (English)
- “in” in vin (wine)
In some regions, you’ll still hear a fourth but increasingly less common nasal vowel:
- “un” in un (one/a)
Produce nasal vowels by pushing some air through your nasal passages, not just through your mouth like in oral vowels. As you’re practicing the difference, you can pinch your nose to block the passage of air entirely. If you hear and feel no difference, you’re still pronouncing an oral vowel. Focus on directing air through your nose by repositioning your tongue further back to block some of the air.
You can identify nasal vowels in written French when a word is spelled with:
- vowel + “n” or “m” at the end of a word
- citron (lemon)
- fin (end)
- pain (bread)
- on (informal we)
- faim (hunger)
- parfum (perfume/scent)
- vowel + “n” or “m” and a consonant other than “n” or “m”
- manger (to eat)
- quand (when)
- exemple (example)
Keep in mind that “ent” at the end of a verb is silent, as found in the third person plural of regular French present tense verbs.
The French “r”
A challenge for anyone learning to speak French, the “r” is pronounced from the back of the throat, very unlike English. You’ll hear it in the beginning, middle, and sometimes the end of words.
- rien (nothing)
- carte (map)
- mer (sea)
Keep in mind that the “er” is pronounced like “é” in infinitive verbs and other words that end in “er,” such as changer (to change) and boulanger (baker).
To practice the French pronunciation of “r,” say the English word “get.” Now continue pronouncing the “ge” but don’t close the back of your throat to say the “g.” This is the approximate position. Now let some air out in that position. The front of your tongue will remain relaxed as air passes through the back of your throat. It might remind you of a light gargle or growl. If you find yourself emphasizing it a bit too much at first, you can back off a bit once you get comfortable.
With this sound in your repertoire, you can accurately pronounce common French words and phrases like:
- rouge (red)
- je préfère (I prefer)
- très (very)
- merci (thank you)
- bonsoir (good evening)
Basics of vowel and vowel combination pronunciation in French
Both the Sorbonne in France and the Office Québécois de la Langue Française list 16 open vowel sounds in addition to a number of nasal vowels and semi-vowels, which vary slightly between European and Canadian French dialects.
In time, you’ll be able to connect the specific vowel sound with the common spellings in French, including when French accent marks will change pronunciation. The challenge of learning French vowels as an English speaker is that there are often no exact English equivalents. Compared to these rough English equivalents, French vowels are often pronounced more toward the front of the mouth.
The French pronunciation of vowels tends to be more “pure,” avoiding the diphthongs common in English. For example, a French “o” will just be the beginning of the English sound “oh,” but without closing the lips to create a “w” at the end of the vowel.
Basic French vowel pronunciation
Learning these vowels will help you with your pronunciation in the French language. These are basics, but the position of the letter in the word or letter combinations can also affect the pronunciation, as you’ll see further in this guide.
| French Letter | Pronunciation | French Example | English Meaning |
| a | “ah” like “father” | la table | the table |
| e | “euh” like “good” (the schwa sound) | je | I |
| i | “ee” like “tree” | la vie | life |
| o | “oh” like “so” | rose | pink |
| o | “uh” like “son” | le téléphone | the telephone |
| u | French “u” sound (say “ee” with tightly rounded lips) | vu | saw |
| y | “ee” like “tree” | il y a | there is/there are |
Pronouncing French vowel combinations and accent marks
Combinations of vowels make other French sounds. The English equivalents are approximate.
| French Letters | Pronunciation | French Example | English Meaning |
| â | “ah” like “mama” | le château | the castle |
| ai | “ai” like “bait” | mai | May |
| au | “oh” like “so” | chaud | hot |
| eau | “oh” like “so” | le chapeau | the hat |
| ô | “oh” like “so” | l’hôpital | the hospital |
| oi | “wah” like “Washington” | le oiseau | the bird |
| ou | “ooh” like “food” | nous | we |
| ui | “wee” like “we” | oui | yes |
| û | “ooh” like “food” | août | August |
| eil/eille | “ay” like “day” | le soleil | the sun |
| eu | “euh” like “took” | le feu | the fire |
The closed “e” sound
This pronunciation is closest to the “a” in “day” if you could stop halfway through the “ay” sound before it changes to “ee” at the end. It can be spelled many ways in French.
| French Letters | French Example | English Meaning |
| é | l’été | the summer |
| -er | manger | to eat |
| -ez | le nez | the nose |
| -ai | j’ai | I have |
| -ied | le pied | the foot |
The open “e” sound
This is more similar to the vowel in “bed.” It can be spelled with various combinations of letters and accents.
| French Letters | French Example | English Meaning |
| è | très | very |
| ê | la tête | the head |
| e | sept | seven |
| ais | la fraise | the strawberry |
Basic pronunciation of French consonants and consonant combinations
The majority of French consonants are similar in sound to English but can be pronounced a bit softer. A few of them change sounds depending on the vowel that follows, and a few consonant combinations change their individual sounds. Many consonants are silent at the ends of words, as you will see further in this guide.
Pronouncing basic consonants in French
These consonants have a similar sound to their English equivalents. This French pronunciation guide for consonants uses vocabulary for les animaux (animals).
| French Letter | Pronunciation | French Example | English Meaning |
| b | “b” like “banana” | la baleine | the whale |
| d | “d” like “dolphin” | le dauphin | the dolphin |
| f | “f” like “flamingo” | le flamant rose | the pink flamingo |
| h | silent | le hamster | the hamster |
| j | “zh” like the “s” in “measure” | le jaguar | the jaguar |
| k | “k” like “kangaroo” | le kangourou | the kangaroo |
| l | “l” like “lion” | le lion | the lion |
| m | “m” like “mouse” | le mouton | the sheep |
| n | “n” like “night” | le narval | the narwhal |
| p | “p” like “panda” | le paresseux | the sloth |
| r | French “r” | le raton laveur | the racoon |
| t | “t” like “tiger” | le tigre | the tiger |
| v | “v” like “very” | la vache | the cow |
| w | “v” like “very” or “w” like “what” | (rarely used except in borrowed words) | Wi-Fi |
| z | “z” like “zebra” | le zèbre | the zebra |
Consonants that have two different sounds
These consonants have different pronunciations depending on the surrounding letters.
| French Letter | Pronunciation | French Example | English Meaning |
| c in front of a/u/o | “k” like “chameleon” | le caméléon | the chameleon |
| c in front of e/i/yç | “s” like “swan” | le cygne | the swan |
| g in front of a/u/o | “g” like “gorilla” | le gorille | the gorilla |
| g in front of e/i/y | “zh” like the “s” in “measure” | la girafe | the giraffe |
| s (unless between 2 vowels) | “s” like “snake” | le singe | the monkey |
| s between 2 vowels | “z” like “zebra” | l’oiseau | the bird |
| x at the end of word or before a consonant | “ks” like the “x” in “six” | le phénix | the phoenix |
| x before a vowel | “gz” like the “x” in“example” | l’exemple | the example |
Consonant combinations in French
Some consonants have different sounds when in combination.
| French Letter | Pronunciation | French Example | English Meaning |
| ch | “sh” like ‘ship’ | le chameau | the camel |
| ph | “f” like ‘frog’ | le phacochère | the warthog |
| qu | “k” like ‘kangaroo’ | le requin | the shark |
Silent letters in French
Learners are sometimes befuddled by the number of silent letters in French. Unlike Spanish where every letter is pronounced, French spelling does not match its pronunciation. Fortunately, you can go beyond the names of the French alphabet with these helpful French pronunciation guidelines.
Consonants at the end of words are often silent
This vocabulary list for les parties du corps (parts of the body) shows that most consonants at the end of a word are silent.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
| le bras | leuh brah | the arm |
| le corps | leuh cohr | the body |
| le dent | leuh dehn (nasal) | the tooth |
| le doigt | leuh dwah | the finger |
| le dos | leuh doh | the back |
| la main | lah mahn (nasal) | the hand |
| le nez | leuh nai | the nose |
| le pied | leuh pyai | the foot |
| le poumon | leuh poo-mohn (nasal) | the lung |
| le sang | leuh sahn (nasal) | the blood |
The consonants in CaReFuL are often pronounced at the ends of words
The consonants in CaReFuL (C, R, F, and L) are often pronounced at the end of words in French. This is true in the body parts le coeur (heart) and le nombril (navel).
Other common words in this category include:
- le parc (the park)
- cher (expensive)
- le chef (the chef)
- mal (badly)
As you’ve seen in the case of words ending in “er” (pronounced like “é”), there are exceptions to the rules and even exceptions to the exceptions.
- In spite of the “careful” tip, you don’t pronounce the final consonant in l’estomac (the stomach) or le nerf (the nerve).
- The final consonant is pronounced in le cil (the eyelash) but not le sourcil (the eyebrow).
- The “s” is pronounced in l’os (the bone) but not in les os (the bones).
This is why having an authentic source of French like Rosetta Stone can be such a helpful way to expose you to natural French pronunciation without relying on rules alone.
Silent “e” at the end of words
An unaccented “e” at the end of a word is silent, but it allows you to pronounce the preceding consonant sound.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
| la bouche | lah boosh | the mouth |
| le coude | leuh cood | the elbow |
| l’épaule | lai-pohl | the shoulder |
| la jambe | lah jahmb | the leg |
| la paupière | lah poh-pyair | the eyelid |
| la poitrine | lah pwah-treen | the chest |
| la tête | lah teht | the head |
| le visage | leuh vee-zazh (“g” like the “s” in “ “measure”) | the face |
Two-letter words ending in “e” are the exception, as you will pronounce the vowel. It’s a “schwa” sound, like “euh.”
- je (I)
- me (to me)
- te (to you)
- de (of)
- le (the)
- ce (this)
Extra “e” and “s” for adjective agreement are silent
The accented “é” is pronounced at the end of words, as in enchanté (delighted). Adding another “e” for the feminine form enchantée or an “s” for the plural enchantés/enchantées, following French grammar rules for adjective agreement, does not change this pronunciation.
The French “h” muet and aspiré
The French “h” muet (mute) is silent and treated no differently than a vowel when it comes to elisions such as:
- J’habite (I live)
- Je m’habille (I get dressed)
- L’homme (the man)
The “e” in the words je, me, and le were replaced by an apostrophe and linked to the next word to avoid awkward-sounding double vowel sounds.
In other French words, the “h” is aspiré (aspirated). It still isn’t pronounced like an English “h” but is treated more like a silent consonant. It doesn’t allow the elision with words ending in a vowel.
- le hérisson (the hedgehog)
- le hamburger (the hamburger)
- la harpe (the harp)
Compare your pronunciations to native speakers’ with Rosetta Stone
As you’re learning French pronunciation, you want to apply the rules and guidelines to authentic French speech. Rosetta Stone’s TruAccent speech recognition engine can tell you which sounds you’ve mastered and which ones need some adjustment by comparing your pronunciation to a native speaker’s. It will catch those pesky exceptions where the French pronunciation doesn’t follow the rules. Soon you’ll be communicating confidently using nasal vowels, silent letters, consonant combinations, and French “u” and “r” sounds.
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