I think that many have already noticed that sometimes there are different icons above and below the French letters: sticks, houses, dots, worms, commas ...
As you understand, they are drawn for a reason.
The letter of the alphabet already known to us is e (this is the one when we fold our lips as if we were talking O, but we say uh) with different icons is pronounced differently.
é
If you see such an icon above it (accent aigu (acute accent) or “stick to the right”), you need to pronounce it, smiling.
Prepare your lips for the sound And and say it yourself uh.
That is, stretch the lips to the ears as much as possible. And with such a smile from ear to ear and say uh.
fé e, bé bé, café, é cole, é tudie, ré cit, té lé, é té, é crire, litté rature, pré fé ré
Cé cile dé teste le café.
C "est l" é cole numé ro deux.
C "est la discipline pré fé ré e de Bé né dicte.
Le bé bé de Pé pé a le nez e pate.
Il a pitié des bé bé s.
è ê ë
The scientific name for these icons is: accent grave, accent circonflexe, tréma (let's call them in our own way - a stick to the left, a house, two dots).
All three options are pronounced the same, like Russian uh.
trè s, prè s, aprè s, frè re, pè re, mè re, poè te, crè me, problè me, modè le
fê te, bê te, rê ve, crê pe, forê t, fenê tre, Noë l
C "est le pè re de Pierre.
Le Noë l est ma fê te préférée.
I hope everyone knows that the French language grew out of Latin (just like Italian, Spanish). That is, Latin roots predominate in French words.
So. Where in Latin the letter s was in this root, in modern French the letter is above house. But in other languages (and not only Romance, but, for example, in English and Russian), this s has been preserved.
look at the word fê te!
Let's restore the letter hidden under the house. What happened? Festa.
What does it remind us of? Look at the Spanish word fiesta and Russian word"festival". Right! It's a "holiday"! So you can guess the meaning of the word in which there is e with a house.
And now the word forê t.
We act in the same way. Restoring the letter s - forest.
Those who speak English have already understood that this is a "forest". By the way, this letter has been preserved in French, for example, in the word forestier (forester).
Two dots can stand not only above e, but also above other letters too.
The main purpose of this icon is to separate vowels.
Usually two vowels in a row make one sound. For example, the letter combination a i is read as uh(more on this later).
But if you put not one, but two dots over i, this letter combination will be read as ai.
naï f, égoï ste, Raphaë l, Noë l
The house (accent circonflexe) and the “stick to the left” (accent grave) can stand not only above the letter e.
These icons can be used to differentiate the meaning of words.
du - masculine partial article (or continuous article)
dû is the past tense of the verb devoir
sur - preposition "on, about"
a - verb avoir (to have) for pronouns "he, she"
à - preposition "in"
ou - union "or"
où is an interrogative word “where? Where?"
la - pronoun "her" (answers the question "who?")
là - adverb "there, here"
Attention! It has no effect on pronunciation.
ç
garçon, leçon, maçon, façon, façade, limaçon, reçu
Apostrophe
This is such a comma above and to the right of the letter, which hides an extra vowel underneath.
In French everything should be fine :) But two vowels in a row is a mess.
You can't leave de elle. It is necessary to hide the vowel in the preposition under the apostrophe. It turns out d "elle.
Instead of le arbre - l "arbre, je ai - j" ai.
You get used to it very quickly, because very quickly you realize that it is really much more convenient to pronounce it this way.
Lesson summary"Letters with icons":
- é (lips for sound And and say it yourself uh):
Cé cile dé teste le café. - and ê ë (Russian uh):
Le pè re de Noë l rê ve de fê te. - ç (Russian With):
Le garç on a reç u une leç on. - apostrophe:
instead of le arbre - l "arbre, je ai - j" ai. - two dots above a vowel separate it from the previous one, that is, they do not form letter combinations, but are pronounced separately:
egoï ste, Noë l - house over a vowelû distinguishes the meaning of words, does not affect pronunciation:
su r - preposition "on, about"
sû r - adjective "confident" - wand to the left above the letterà distinguishes the meaning of words, does not affect pronunciation:
a - verb avoir (to have) for pronouns "he, she"
à - preposition "in"
In this lesson, you will continue your acquaintance with French sounds and letter combinations.
Sound pronunciation rules [ɔ]
The sound [ɔ] in French is very light, almost weightless, so it is important not to tense your lips when pronouncing it.
Despite the fact that there is no Russian analogue for this French sound, learning how to pronounce it is not so difficult. This sound is a cross between the Russian sounds [e], [o] and [e]. Do not stretch your lips, imagine that you are breathing on a frozen glass. Without changing the position of the lips, pronounce the sound [e]. Try again and you won't have any more problems with this sound!
Sound pronunciation rules [ø]
As you can see, [œ] and [ø] are the same sound, differing only in openness. The closed sound is pronounced more “uterine”, and the lips are not open as much as when pronouncing open sounds. The sound seems to meet an obstacle while you are speaking it. That's all you need to remember when you come across a clarification about the openness of the sound.
Important! The letter "x" at the end of the word is not pronounced.
Sound pronunciation rules [ə]
The peculiarity of the sound [ə] is that in colloquial speech, it can disappear. That is why this sound is called fluent [ə]. Fluent [ə] is not pronounced when it is surrounded by consonants, which, in turn, are surrounded by vowels. For example, in the word "bracelet". As you can see, the letter "e" is between the two consonants "c" and "l", which surround the two vowels "a" and "e". Therefore, the fluent [ə] is omitted, and the word will be pronounced as [brasle].
Sound pronunciation rules [ʒ]
Sound pronunciation rules [y]
The sound [y] simultaneously resembles the sounds [y] and [y] in Russian, and is pronounced as an intermediate between these two sounds. To achieve the correct pronunciation of the sound [y], round your lips as if you are going to whistle. Without changing the position of the lips, pronounce the sound [and]. The resulting sound will be very close to what you want. Try not to pronounce this sound like Russian [yu], for example in the word tu (you).
Sound pronunciation rules [ε]
So, you learned a few more French sounds. Try some exercises to put what you learned into practice.
Tasks for the lesson
Exercise 1. Read the following words.
Nuit (night), je (I), heur (hour), pomme (apple), jeter (throw), huit (eight), musique (music), octobre (October), rue (street), fleur (flower), jeune (young), adieux (goodbye), police (police), fromage (cheese), il pleut (it's raining), fort (strong), votre (your), cœur (heart), général (general).
Exercise 2. Try to remember the meaning of the words that you met in the last lesson. Translate into French.
- be in love
- Here
- sick
- calm
- serious
- accurate
- speak
Answer 1. For ease of understanding, the sounds [œ], [ø] and [y], [h] are written as [ё] and [yu].
| Nuit | [nui] | |
| je | [zh] | |
| heur | [yur] | |
| pomme | [pom] | |
| jet | [zhet] | |
| huit | [yuit] | |
| music | [music] | |
| October | [octobr] | |
| rue | [ryu] | |
| fleur | [fleur] | |
| Jeune | [women] | |
| adieux | [adyo] | |
| police | [policy] |
The rules for reading French are quite complex and varied, so you don't have to try to learn them all at once. It is enough in the process of learning and consolidating the material to glance periodically at the table. The main thing is to remember that there are reading rules, which means that having mastered them, you will be able to read any unfamiliar word. That is why the French language does not require transcription (exceptions are rare phonetic cases).
There are 5 important rules of the French alphabet that are unchanged and must be remembered:
- the stress ALWAYS falls on the last syllable of the word (examples: argent, festival, venir);
- letters -s, -t, -d, -z, -x, -p, -g, e, c (and their combinations) are NOT READABLE in words if they are at the end (examples: mais, agent, fond, nez, epoux, morse, banc);
- the ending of verbs in the present tense “-ent” (3l singular h) is never read (example: ils parlent);
- the letter “l” is always softened, resembling the Russian [l];
- double consonants are read in French as one sound, for example: pomme.
The French alphabet is in many ways consonant with the English alphabet. If you already speak English, then the learning process will be much faster, if not, then that's also great. It will be very interesting for you to learn another language besides your native one!
In addition to the letters of the alphabet, letters with icons (superscript and subscript) are used in the letter, presented in the table below.
Vowels and letter combinations in French
French vowels are pronounced according to clear pronunciation rules, but there are many exceptions related to both analogy and the influence of neighboring sounds.
| Letter / Letter combination | Sound pronunciation | Example |
| "oi" | semivowel [wa] | trois |
| “ui” | [ʮi] | huit [ʮit] |
| “ou”* | [u] | cour |
| “eau”, “au” | [o] | beaucoup, auto |
| “eu”, “œu”, and also the letter e (in an open unstressed syllable) | [œ] / [ø] / [ǝ] | neuf, pneu, regarder |
| “è” and “ê” | [ɛ] | crème, tete |
| “é” | [e] | tele |
| "ai" and "ei" | [ɛ] | mais, beige |
| “y”* in position between vowels forms | 2 "i" | royal (roi - ial = ) |
| “an, am, en, em” | nasal [ɑ̃] | enfant [ɑ̃fɑ̃], ensemble [ɑ̃sɑ̃bl] |
| "on, om" | nasal [ɔ̃] | bon, nom |
| “in, im, ein, aim, ain, yn, ym” | nasal [ɛ̃] | jardin [Ʒardɛ̃], important [ɛ̃portɑ̃], symphonie, copain |
| “un, um” | nasal [œ̃] | brown, perfume |
| “oin” | [wɛ̃] | coins |
| “ien” | [jɛ̃] | bien |
| "i" before a vowel and combined with "il" after a vowel at the end of a word | [j] | miel, ail. |
| “ill”* | [j] - after a vowel - after a consonant | family |
*If the letter combination “ou” is followed by a pronounced vowel, then the sound is read as [w]. For example, in the word jouer [Ʒwe].
* Being between consonants, the letter “y” is read as [i]. For example, in the word stylo.
* In the flow of speech, a fluent sound [ǝ] may be barely heard or even fall out of pronunciation. But there are also cases when a sound, on the contrary, can appear where it is not pronounced in an isolated word. Examples: acheter, les cheveux.
*Exceptions are the words tranquille, ville, mille, Lille, as well as their derivatives.
Correct pronunciation of consonants and letter combinations
| Letter / Letter combination | Sound pronunciation | Example |
| “t”* | [ s ] before “i” + vowel [t] if “t” is preceded by “s” | national question |
| "s" | between vowels [z] [ s ] - in other cases | |
| "ss" | Always [s] | class |
| "x" | At the beginning of a word between vowels [ks] otherwise; [s] in cardinal numbers; [z] in ordinal numbers | exotic [ɛgzotik] Six, dix Sixieme, dixieme |
| “c”* | [ s ] before vowels “i, e, y” [ k ] - in other cases | |
| “ç” | always [s] | garcon |
| "g" | [Ʒ] before vowels “i, e, y” [ g ] - in other cases | |
| “gu” | like 1 sound [g] before vowels | Guerre |
| “gn” | [ɲ] (sounds like Russian [нн]) | ligne |
| "ch" | [ʃ] (sounds like Russian [sh]) | chat [ʃa] |
| "ph" | [f] | photo |
| "qu" | 1 sound [k] | qui |
| “r”* | not readable after "e" at the end of a word | parler |
| “h”* | never pronounced, but divided into mute h and aspirated h | homme |
| "th" | [t] | Marthe |
* Exception words: amitié, pitié.
*The letter is not pronounced at the end of a word after nasal vowels. For example: banc . And also in words like (porc, tabac, estomac [ɛstoma]).
*Exceptions are some nouns and adjectives: hiver, fer, cher [ʃɛ:r], ver, mer, hier.
*In French, the letter “h” plays a role in pronunciation:
- when h is in the middle of a word between vowels, they are read separately, for example: Sahara, cahier, trahir;
- with a mute h at the beginning of a word, a link is made, and a vowel is dropped, for example: l‘hectare, ilshabitent;
- no binding is made before the aspirated h and the vowel is not dropped, for example: la harpe, le hamac, les hamacs, les harpes.
In dictionaries, words with aspirated h are denoted by an asterisk, for example: *haut.
Coupling, linking and other features of French phonetics
Voiced consonants should always be pronounced clearly, without deafening them at the end of a word. Unstressed vowels should also be pronounced clearly, without reducing them.
Before such consonants as [r], [z], [Ʒ], [v], stressed vowels become long or acquire longitude, which is indicated by a colon in transcription. Example: base.
French words tend to lose their stress in the speech stream, as they are combined into groups that have a common semantic meaning and a common stress that falls on the last vowel. Thus, rhythmic groups are formed.
When reading a rhythmic group, be sure to observe two important rules: clutch (fr. enchainement) and binding (fr. liaison). Without knowledge of these two phenomena, it will be extremely difficult to learn to hear, distinguish and understand words in the flow of French speech.
Clutch is the phenomenon when a pronounced consonant at the end of one word forms one syllable with a vowel at the beginning of the next word. Examples: elle aime, j'habite, la salle est claire.
Linking is when the final silent consonant is pronounced by linking with the vowel at the beginning of the next word. Examples: c'est elle or à neuf heures.
Check yourself (reinforcement exercise)
Having carefully read all the rules and exceptions, now try to read the words given in the exercises below without looking into the theoretical material.
Exercise 1
sale, date, vaste, père, mère, valse, sûr, crème, rate, tête, traverse, appeler, vite, pièce, fête, bête, crêpe, marcher, répéter, pomme, tu, armée, les, mes, pénétrer, le, je, me, ce, monopole, chat, photo, regarder, pianiste, ciel, miel, donner, minute, une, bicyclette, théâtre, paragraphe, thé, marche, physicien, espagnol.
Exercise 2
titane, attire, tissage, titi, type, tirade, active, bicyclette, gypse, myrte, cycliste, Egypte;
naïf, maïs, laïcité, naïve, haïr, laïque, abïme;
fière, bière, ciel, carrière, piège, miel, pièce, panier;
pareil, abeille, vermeil, veille, merveille;
ail, médaille, bail, travail, détail, émail, vaille, détailler;
fille, bille, grille, billet, quille, ville;
habiter, trahi, géhenne, habiller, malhabile, hériter, inhabile, Sahara;
l'herbe - les herbes, l'habit - les habits, l'haltère - les haltères;
la harpe - les harpes, la hache - les haches, la halte - les haltes, la haie - les haies.
Now you know the rules for reading French, which means you can read any text in French.
How to print in French so that all the superscript and subscript characters that are so used in French are written? I can recommend several ways. The first is suitable for those who print only in Word. The second and third are for those who use other applications, such as Skype.
1. Keyboard Shortcuts in Word
The necessary axans and sediums can be customized by assigning special keyboard shortcuts. For example, when you press the Ctrl key and the letter "e" at the same time, type "é". To assign keyboard shortcuts, you need to click on the "Insert" button on the top panel of Word and select the "Symbol" option
In the "Symbol" window that opens, find and select the desired French letter, for example é. At the bottom of the page, click on the "Keyboard Shortcuts" button:
In the window that opens, in the "New keyboard shortcut" field, type in a convenient combination, for example, "Ctrl" + "e" (you do not need to write Ctrl, just press the two indicated keys at the same time). At the bottom of the page, click on the "Assign" button.
Now in any Word document, when you simultaneously press two keys - "Ctrl" + "e" - you will have é! The main thing is not to forget which keys to press.
2. Setting the French keyboard layout
If you actively use not only Word, but also other applications, I advise you to install the French keyboard layout. For this you need:
1. Click on the "Start" button, go to the "Control Panel" of the computer and select the "Regional and Language Options" button.
2. Select the "Languages and keyboards" tab, click on the "Change keyboard" button.
3. Find the "Add" button
4. And in the window, select the input language - "French (France)" and the keyboard layout - "French". Press "OK".
You can switch to / from the French keyboard in the same way as you do with the English keyboard.
French keyboard layout - AZERTY
Don't forget about the special "French" keyboard layout, which is not the same as English:
Canadian keyboard layout
To install, the same manipulations are needed as for French, but we select, respectively, "French (Canada)".
3. Entering codes in combination with Alt
Alt-character codes are typed by holding down the Alt key and a numeric combination on the numeric keypad.
French alphabet and correct French pronunciation- the basis of the foundations of this melodic language, french alphabet- the topic of the article. Good news for those who have studied English language – french alphabet exactly the same as English. In order to learn french alphabet we need two things: first, french alphabet, secondly, the name of each letter. Today there is an opinion that the learner of the French alphabet does not need to be taught in order to avoid confusion between the name of the letter and its pronunciation. However, I highly recommend learning the French alphabet now, and let this be the first step in the delightful journey that learning French is. Learn the French alphabet - it will be very useful for you when using dictionaries! Your French pronunciation may not be perfect. If you have French-speaking friends, ask them to say the French alphabet for you. So, behind a few lessons and you will have the first communication with a native speaker of French. What will be discussed? Surely we will talk about what you and the interlocutor are doing, where you came from and, of course, what is your name. And already at the first contact, you may need a clear knowledge of the French alphabet. And if this is not idle communication, and at the same time personal data is filled in, this percentage increases. A feature of the French alphabet is the fact that the letters w, k and ligatures Æ æ used only in foreign words and proper names. The French alphabet is complemented by the ç (cedille) sign, and 3 diacritics written above vowels: acute (accent aigu), grave (accent grave) and circumflex (accent circonflexe). The fact is that in the French alphabet, not all letters of the word are pronounced, for example, the word beaucoup ( a lot of) consisting of 8 letters in a letter, is pronounced [boku] /, that is, in its sound embodiment it has only 4 sounds. Of course, a native speaker knows how to spell a familiar word, but as a beginner, you may have to ask how this word is spelled (Pouvez-vous épelez, s’il vous plaît?/ Spell please). The spelling of an unfamiliar geographical name, first name and especially last name, will probably be unknown to your French interlocutor, and then be prepared to answer the above question. In this case, you only need one thing - a clear knowledge of the French alphabet. The French alphabet is the usual Latin alphabet, consisting of 26 letters. In addition to these familiar letters, the French also use letters with diacritics and ligatures (see below).
Letters of the French alphabet with transcription
| Aa[a] | Jj [Ʒi] | Ss [ɛs] |
| bb | Kk | Tt |
| CC | Ll [ɛl] | Uu[y] |
| Dd | Mm [ɛm] | vv |
| Ee [ǝ] | Nn [ɛn] | www |
| Ff [ɛf] | Oh [o] | xx |
| Gg [ʒe] | pp | Yy |
| hh | Zz | |
| Ii[i] | Rr [ɛr] |
French alphabet with pronunciation
Listen to alphabet français (French alphabet audio)
Song "French Alphabet"
Diacritics
A diacritic is a superscript, subscript, or inline sign used to change or clarify the meaning of other signs denoting sounds.
3) accent circumflexe(axan sirconflex): ê, â, ô, î, û - in the first three cases it affects the pronunciation of vowels, in the last two it is written according to tradition instead of those that disappeared during historical development letter language;
4) trema(diaeresis): ë, ï, ü, ÿ - shows that in this case there is no formation of a diphthong or other sound;
5) cedille(sedy): ç - put only under "s", shows that the letter is read as [s] regardless of the letter following it.
Ligatures
A ligature is a sign formed by merging two or more graphemes.
Two ligatures are used in French: œ And æ . They are digraphs, i.e. convey one sound, and in writing they consist of two graphemes.
Letters of the French alphabet
French Reading Rules
French alphabet
Letter reading table:
| Aa[a] | Jj [Ʒ] | Ss [s], see 10 |
| Bb[b] | Kk[k] | Tt [t], see 35 |
| Cc see 12 | Ll [l] see 6 | Uu[y] |
| Dd[d] | mm [m] | Vv[v] |
| Ee see 24-26, 36 (fluent e) | nn[n] | ww[v] |
| Ff[f] | Oh [o] | Xx cm.11 |
| Gg see 13 | Pp[p] | Yy [i], see 28 |
| hh is unreadable | Qq see 17 | Zz[z] |
| Ii [i], see 18 | Rr[r] |
In addition to letters from the French alphabet, a number of letters are used with various superscript and subscript characters:
Reading rules, pronunciation
1. The stress in a word always falls on the last syllable.
2. At the end of words are not read: “ e, t, d, s, x, z, p, g” (except for some exceptions), as well as letter combinations “ es, ts, ds, ps”: rose, nez, climat, trop, heureux, nid, sang; roses, nids, cadets.
3. The end of verbs is not read “ -ent ”: ilsParent.
4. At the end of the word, “r” is not read after “e” (- er): parler.
Exceptions: in some nouns and adjectives, for example: hiver , cher [ʃ ɛ: r], mer , hier , fer , ver .
5. At the end of the word is not read “ c” after nasal vowels: unbanc.
6. Letter “ l” is always read softly.
7. Voiced consonants are always pronounced clearly and are not stunned at the end of a word (about phonetic assimilation in French). Unstressed vowels are pronounced clearly and are not reduced.
8. Before consonants [r], [z], [Ʒ], [v], stressed vowels acquire longitude: base.
9. Double consonants are read as one sound: pomm e.
10. Letter “ s” between vowels gives the sound [ z ]: ros e .
- In other cases - [ s ]: veste.
- Two "s" ( ss) are always read as [ s ]: class e .
11. Letter “ x” at the beginning of a word between vowels reads like: ex otique [ɛ gzotik].
- Not at the beginning of a word, the letter “x” is pronounced like [ ks ]: tax i .
- In cardinal numbers it is pronounced like [s]: Six, dix .
- In ordinal numbers it is pronounced like [z]: Six ième, dix ième .
12. Letter “ c” is read as [ s ] before “i, e, y”: c irque .
- In other cases, it gives the sound [ k ]: age.
- “ç ” is always read as a sound [ s ]: garçon.
At the end of the word the letter " c ”
- In most cases, it is pronounced like [ k ]: parc.
- Not pronounced after nasal vowels - ban c and in some words porc, estomac [ɛstoma], tabac).
13. Letter “ g” reads like [Ʒ] before “i, e, y”: cag e .
- In other cases, the letter gives the sound [g]: g alop .
- Combination “ gu”before a vowel it is read as 1 sound [g]: guerre.
- Combination “ gn” reads like a [ɲ] sound (similar to Russian [н]): ligne.
Exceptional cases of reading the letter combination gn.
14. Letter “ h” is never read: h omme, but subdivided into h mute and h aspirated.
15. Letter combination “ ch” gives the sound [ʃ] = Russian [sh]: ch at [ʃa].
16. Letter combination “ ph” gives the sound [ f ]: ph oto .
17. Letter combination “ qu” gives 1 sound [ k ]: qu i .
18. Letter “ i” before a vowel and combination “ il” after a vowel at the end of the word are read as [ j ]: miel, ail.
19. Letter combination “ ill” is read as [j] (after a vowel) or (after a consonant): family e.
Exceptions: ville, mille, tranquille, Lille and their derivatives.
20. Letter combination “ oi” gives a semivowel sound [wa]: troi s .
21. Letter combination “ ui” gives a semivowel sound [ʮi]: hui t [ʮit].
22. Letter combination “ ou” gives the sound [ u ]: cou r .
If after the letter combination “ ou” is a pronounced vowel, then it is read as [w]: jouer [Ʒ we].
23. Letter combinations “ eau ”, “au” give the sound [ o ]: beau coup , au to .
24. Letter combinations “ eu ”, “œu” and a letter e(in an open unstressed syllable) are read as [œ] / [ø] / [ǝ]: neu f, pneu, re garder.
25. Letter “ è ” and letter “ ê ” give the sound [ɛ]: crè me, tê te.
26. Letter “ é ” reads like [e]: te le.
27. Letter combinations “ ai" And " ei” are read as [ɛ]: mais, beige.
28. Letter “ y” between vowels “decomposes” into 2 “i”: royal (roi – ial = [ rwa- jal]) .
- Between consonants it reads like [i]: stylo.
29. Letter combinations “ an, am, en, em” give a nasal sound [ɑ̃]: enfant [ɑ̃fɑ̃], ensemble [ɑ̃sɑ̃bl].
30. Letter combinations “ on, om” give a nasal sound [ɔ̃]: bon, nom.
31. Letter combinations “ in, im, ein, aim, ain, yn, ym ” give a nasal sound [ɛ̃]: jardin [ Ʒardɛ̃], important [ɛ̃portɑ̃], symphonie, copain.
32. Letter combinations “ un, um” give a nasal sound [œ̃]: brown, perfume.
33. Letter combination “ oin” reads [wɛ̃]: coin.
34. Letter combination “ ien” reads [jɛ̃]: bien.
35. Letter “ t” gives the sound [ s ] before “ i ” + vowel: national .
Exception: amitie , pitie .
- But, if the letter "s" is in front of the letter "t", "t" is read as [t]: quest ion .
36. Fluent [ǝ] in the flow of speech may fall out of pronunciation or, conversely, appear where it is not pronounced in an isolated word:
Acheter, les cheveux.
In the speech flow, French words lose their stress, uniting into groups with a common semantic meaning and a common stress on the last vowel (rhythmic groups).
Reading within a rhythmic group requires obligatory observance of two rules: coupling (enchainement) and binding (liaison).
a) Clutch: the final pronounced consonant of one word forms one syllable with the initial vowel of the next word: elle aime, la salle est claire.
b) The phenomenon of linking is that the final unpronounceable consonant begins to sound, linking with the initial vowel of the following word: c'est elle, à neuf heures.
Letter combinations in French
| sound | |
| ai | [ɛ] |
| ail, ail | |
| au | [o] |
| ay | [ɛj] |
| ch | [ʃ] |
| eau | [o] |
| ei | [ɛ] |
| en, em | nasal [ɑ̃] |
| eu | [œ] / [ø] |
| gn | [ƞ] |
| gu | [g](before e, i) |
| ien | 1) nasal
(if there is no vowel or second n after n) 2) nasal (if after n the unpronounceable letter t follows, except for the forms of the verbs venir, tenir) |
| il | [j](at the end of a word after a vowel) |
| ill | 1) [j](between vowels) 2) (after consonant) |
| in, im | [ɛ̃] (if it is at the end of a word or before a consonant) |
| œu | [œ] / [ø] |
| oi | |
| oin | nasal (if it is at the end of a word or before a consonant) |
| ou | [u] |
| oy | |
| ph | [f] |
| qu | [k] |
| th | [t] |
| tion | nasal (if there is no s before t) |
| un, um | nasal [œ̃] (if it is at the end of a word or before a consonant) |
| yn, ym | nasal [ɛ̃](if it is at the end of a word or before a consonant) |
Rules for reading French numerals
This article is about reading final consonants in French numerals.
French counting (writing numerals and audio exercises for numerals) and pronunciation of numerals.
5-cinq
6 - six and 10 - dix
| at the end of a phrase | Il y en a six. [ sis] | |
| binding to the next word, the final letter of the numeral is pronounced like [z] | dix euros [ dizœro] | |
| the final letter of the numeral is not pronounced | six cents [ si sɑ̃] dix personnes [ di pɛrson] |
|
| in dates | the final letter is not pronounced or pronounced (both possible) as [s] before months beginning with a consonant; as [z]/[s] before months beginning with a vowel | le 10 juin / le26 / |
| when naming a number | the final letter of the numeral is pronounced like [s] | compter jusqu'a dix [ dis] |
7 - sept and 9 - neuf
In these numerals, the final consonant is always pronounced:
Il y a sept chansons. [ sɛt]
Il y a neuf comediens. [ nœf]
The final f in the numeral neuf (9) is pronounced as [v] before the words ans (years), autres (others), heures (hours) and hommes (man / men):
Elle a neuf ans. [ nœvɑ̃]
Il est neuf heures. [ nœv-:r]
8-huit
There is no elision (dropping out of vowels) before this numeral:
Il ne reste que huit jours avant mes vacances.
Before this numeral, binding occurs only as part of a complex numeral:
dix-huit ans [ dizʮitɑ̃].
Exceptions:
88 - quatre-vingt-huit and 108 - cent huit [ sɑ̃ʮit].
| at the end of a phrase | the final letter of the numeral is pronounced | Il y en a huit. [ ʮit] |
| before a word beginning with a vowel or mute h | binding to the next word, the final letter of the numeral is pronounced as [t] | huit euros [ ʮitœro] |
| before a word beginning with a consonant or h is aspirated | the final letter of the numeral is usually not pronounced | huit cents [ ʮi sɑ̃] |
| in dates | the final letter is omitted or pronounced (both possible) as [t] before months beginning with a consonant; before months beginning with a vowel it is pronounced like [t] | le 8 juin / le 28 avril |
| when naming a number | the final letter of the numeral is pronounced as [t]. Can be omitted before percentages | Il a eu 88% à son dernier examen. / |
20-vingt
20 - vingt [ vɛ̃].
If the word 20 is followed by a noun that begins with a vowel or a silent h, linking occurs, the final t reads:
vingt ans [ vɛ̃t ɑ̃].
In numbers from 21 to 29, the final t reads:
vingt-neuf [ vɛ̃t nœf],
but in 22 and 23 the sound [t] is usually replaced by [n]:
vingt deux [ vɛ̃n dø], vingt-trois [ vɛ̃n trwa].
80 - quatre-vingts / 90 - quatre-vingt-dix
If word 80 is followed by a noun beginning with a vowel or silent h, linking occurs, the final s reads [z]:
square vingts ans.
In numbers from 80 to 99, the final t in the word vingt is not pronounced!
square-vingt-un
quatre-vingt-onze.
21, 31, 41, 51, 61, 71
In these compound numbers, there is a link between ten and the union "and":
vingt-et-un [ vɛ̃teœ̃]
trente-et-un [ trɑ̃teœ̃].
100 cent
The final t in cent is pronounced when linked to the next word beginning with a vowel or silent h:
cent ans [ sɑ̃tɑ̃].
Exception: 101, where no linking is allowed between two words:
cent un [ sɑ̃œ̃].
In the words 200, 300, 400 ... 900, the ending -s appears in the word cent (in the absence of a subsequent numeral), so the binding will occur with this particular letter:
deux cents ans.
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