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Pronouncing French

In this book we have used a simple system to help you pronounce the phrases. We have designed the book so that as you read the pronunciation of the phrases you can follow the French. This will help you to recognize the different sounds and enable you to read French without relying on the guide. Here are a few rules you should know:

French	sounds like	example	pronunciation
au	oh	autobus	oh-toh-bews
c (+ a, o, u)	ka, ko, ku	cas, col, cure	ka, kol, kewr
c (+ e, i), ç	s	ceci, ça	suh-see, sa
ch	sh	chat	sha
é	ay	été	aytay
è	eh	très	treh
eau	oh	beau	boh
eu	uh	neuf	nuhf
g (+ e, i)	zhe, zhee	gel, gîte	zhel, zheet
gn	ny	agneau	a-nyoh
oi	wa	roi	rwa
u	ew	sur	sewr
ui	wee	huit	weet

e is sometimes weak and sounds like uh. This happens either in very short words (je zhuh, le luh, se suh, etc.) or when the e falls at the end of a syllable: retard ruh-tar, depuis duh-pwee.

h is not pronounced: hôtel oh-tel, haricot a-ree-koh.

There are nasal vowels in French (represented by ñ):

un uñ

fin/bain fañ/bañ

on oñ

dans/en dahñ/ahñ

Word endings are often silent: Paris pa-ree, Londres loñdr, parlent parl. However, the ending is sometimes pronounced if it is followed by a word which begins with a vowel:

avez-vous a-vay voo but vous avez voo za-vay.

In French, unlike English, there is normally no strong accent on any syllable, but instead a slight emphasis on the final syllable of each word, phrase and sentence, which takes the form of a rising intonation rather than an increase in volume.