French pronounciation

French pronunciation

Pronunciation

ENDINGS

French word endings tend to be particularly difficult for beginners, largely because ending consonants are usually silent, but they do affect preceding vowel sounds.

Ending Homophones Example English Approximation IPA
-er -é, -ée, -ées parler cliché [e]
-et -ets, -è, -ê poulet pou-LAY [ε]
-it -its, -i, -ie, -ies, -is, -iz lit LEE [i]
-at -ats, -as, -a chat SHAH [ɑ]
The consonants C, R, F, and L are usually pronounced (you can use the mnemonic "CaReFuL"), with these main exceptions:

An ending -r is silent in infinitives (e.g. parler - to speak).
An ending -fs is silent (e.g. œufs - eggs).
The L of an ending -il is usually silent (e.g. fusil - gun).
THE MUTE E

When a consonant is followed by a mute -e, then the consonant should be pronounced. This is a way of distinguishing masculine and feminine forms verbally. Any unaccented -e at the end of a word is always mute except in a single-syllable word like le, which sounds somewhat like "luh".

The letter E often becomes mute in the middle of a word, especially if it would add a syllable. For instance, most Francophones pronounce appeler ("to call") as "app-LAY", not "app-pe-LAY".

Tu

Tu is not pronounced like the English "too". The French [u] (or German [ü]) is a sound that isn't found in English. A tip to learn this sound is to shape your mouth like you're about to say the "oo" (in "too"), but say "ee" (in "tee") instead. Practice this until it feels natural.