쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆

Guide to Pronunciation
쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆쏆

F or every line of dialogue you will find the approximate pronunciation with
symbols in italics. These symbols are not part of the International Phonetic
Alphabet and only serve as a guide and support.We hope that these symbols
make your pronunciation come as close as possible to native speech. We have
tried to simplify the pronunciation for you. Due to the fact that French has many
sounds that do not exist in English,we had to adapt the pronunciation with letters
and symbols that in some cases coincide with English,but not always.For that rea-
son, we suggest you take a few minutes to observe the explanations of each one
of those symbols and an“approximate pronunciation.”In those explanations you
will find hints on how to place your mouth and lips to make the sound.

Vowels
French officially has 16 vowel sounds. English has about 12. In order to simplify
the pronunciation, we have combined some vocalic sounds which are so simi-
lar that in some French-speaking regions no difference is made.

Approximate Possible written Example

Symbol pronunciation forms pronunciation

i like the ee in i, y si
see si
é closed e, similar é, es, er, ai été
to a in late, but été
a pure vowel not a
diphthong
è open e, similar to è, ê, ais, ai, est père
bed pèr

쏆쏆쏆

xix
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click here for Terms of Use.
xx Guide to Pronunciation

Approximate Possible written Example

Symbol pronunciation forms pronunciation

a open a (but not a, à patte

as open as a in pat
cat)
â closed a, â, a (usually pâte
similar to short before s) pât
a in car
ò open o, similar to o école
pore ékòl
o closed o, similar o, ô, au, eau hôtel
to o in no (but a otèl
pure vowel not a
diphthong)
u short u, like in ou nous
too nu
ü pronounce ee as u tu
in see, but round tü
your lips as if you
were going to say
oo
ö like ur in fur, eu feu
but shorter fö
ë like er in her, eu, œu sœur
but round your lips sër
e called neutral e e leçon
or “schwa”; like a lesõ
in ago
ã nasal a; let the an, am, en, em temps
air flow out of your tã
nose
ẽ nasal e; let the in, ain, aim, ym, pain
air flow out of your un*, um* pẽ
nose
õ nasal o; let the on, om chanson
air flow out of your shãsõ
nose

Note: In order to make it simpler for the learner, we have placed the written form un/um with
ẽ. There is a slight difference in pronunciation: un or um are pronounced like ẽ but with
rounder lips, just like a nasal ë. However, this distinction is not made in all French-speaking
regions of the world. Since in some areas un and um are pronounced like ẽ, we have chosen
this symbol for these written forms.
Guide to Pronunciation xxi
Semivowels
Semivowels are never pronounced alone. They are always accompanied by another
vowel. They are weaker and shorter than a vowel, but are pronounced in the same
area of the mouth. Semivowel w is like a very short u; semivowel y is like a very short
i; and semivowel ÿ is like a shorter ü.

Possible
Approximate written Example
Symbol pronunciation forms pronunciation

w w as in water oi, oin, oui, ouer, roi

ouez rwa
y similar to the y in ail, aille, eil, eille, hier
yet ille, euille, ouille, yèr
ya, io, ier, ié, ui,
uet
ÿ like a shorter ü ui, uet lui
lÿi

Consonants
There are 17 consonant sounds in French. They are quite similar to English. In most
cases, their pronunciation does not change depending on their position in the word,
unlike English consonant sounds.

Possible
Approximate written Example
Symbol pronunciation forms pronunciation

b like b in boy b bateau

bato
d like d in day d dire
dir
g like g in goat g ( + a, o, u) guerre
gu ( + e, i) gèr
p like p in put p porte
pòrt
xxii Guide to Pronunciation

Possible
Approximate written Example
Symbol pronunciation forms pronunciation

t like t in top t tendre

tãdr
k like k in kilo k, c ( + a, o, u) quand
qu kã
m like m in my m mère
mèr
f like f in fast f, ph photo
foto
s like s in sand s (beginning of poisson
word) pwasõ
ss (between vowels)
t (in —tion endings)
sh like sh in ship ch château
shato
ñ similar to ny in gn agneau
Kenya año
l soft l similar to l il
let il
r guttural: rolled in r reine
the throat rèn
n like n in no n non
nõ
v like v in veal v vélo
vélo
z like z in zoo z (any position) oiseau
s (between vowels) wazo
zh like s in j, g ( + e, i) gérant
pleasure zhérã
Guide to Pronunciation xxiii
Stress
French words are always stressed on the final, pronounced syllable. For this reason,
whenever you see a word of more than one syllable, stress the last syllable that you
see in italics (in the pronunciation guide for each word). In the following examples,
the stressed syllable has been underlined for you.

Example Pronunciation translation

université ünivèrsité university
chanson shãsõ song
boulevard bulvar boulevard
françaises frãsèz French women

French word-groups are also stressed on the final syllable. This could be more diffi-
cult for foreign learners. In cases where two or more words are definitely pro-
nounced as one unit, it will appear as one word in italics. We have underlined the
stressed syllable again. Observe the following examples:

Example Pronunciation translation

mon école mõnékòl my school
(je) m’appelle mapèl my name is
s’il vous plaît silvuplè please

Silent letters
Some letters are silent depending on their position in the word. We have listed the
most frequent cases below.
• The letter h
The letter h is silent except when it is combined with c and p. When it is combined
with any of those letters, the sound of that other letter is modified.
ch = pronounced sh
ph = pronounced f
• The final -e and the neutral e or “schwa.”
Usually, the final written -e is not pronounced, except when there is an accent as in -é.

Example Pronunciation translation

facile facil easy
employée ãplwayé employee (fem.)
allemande almãd German (fem.)
Note that when masculine nouns and adjectives form their feminine by adding an
-e, this last letter is not pronounced (see employée). If the preceding letter is a con-
sonant, it must be pronounced (see allemande).
xxiv Guide to Pronunciation

Sometimes, the neutral e (or schwa) is not pronounced when it appears in the center
of a word. In those cases, it is usually optional to pronounce it or not. To make it eas-
ier for learners, we have deleted that e from the pronunciation when natives do not
usually pronounce it. Observe the e in the word allemand in the examples above.
• Double consonants
If a word has double consonants, the consonant sound is only pronounced once in
most French-speaking areas.
Example Pronunciation translation
attention atãsyõ attention
elle èl she
poisson pwasõ fish
• Final consonants
Final consonants are usually not pronounced, but there are exceptions. However,
exceptions have been carefully indicated in the pronunciation part of the chapters.
Example Pronunciation translation
tabac taba tobacco
petit peti little (masc.)
parc park park

Liaison
This is something very typical of the French language, although it is not exclusive to it.
A word that ends in a nonpronounced consonant may acquire the final sound of that
consonant before another word beginning with a vowel or silent h. The consonant
sound is pronounced as part of the second word. Observe the following examples:
Example Pronunciation translation
les écoles lè zékòl the schools
quand on . . . kã tõ when we . . .
mon ami mõ nami my friend (m.)

Written accents
There are three possible written accents in French. They appear on vowels, never on
consonants. Observe the following table with the names and forms of those accents:

Name of the accent Letter it appears on

accent aigü é
accent grave à, è
accent circonflexe â, ê; î, ô, û
Guide to Pronunciation xxv
In some cases, the pronunciation of the letter changes and, therefore, it becomes a
different sound. In other cases, the accent has a diacritic function. That means that it
distinguishes between two different words that are written the same.
é closes the vowel
è opens the vowel
ê opens the vowel (identical to è)
â closes the vowel
à only appears on preposition à to distinguish it from a (avoir)
ô closes the vowel
î diacritic
û diacritic

Dieresis
The dieresis (ë, ï) is used to break a diphthong so that every letter is pronounced. For
example, in the word Noël the two vowels are pronounced separately. ë is pro-
nounced /è/. The word mais is pronounced /mè/ and the word maïs is pronounced
/mais/. The same happens with Haïti. The name of the country is pronounced /haiti/.