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When to do the liaison in French?
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The liaison in French?
- What does 'faire la liaison' mean?
- It's about pronunciation.
- It's when you change the pronunciation of the end of a word.
2 important points to remember
1 - It changes the pronunciation of the last letter of the first word, which is a silent consonant
2 - The first letter of the following word is:
- a vowel (a, e, i, o, u, y)
- a silent h
An example:
Written: bon appétit / Spoken: bo nappétit
3 cases
1 - The liaison is a mandatory
2 - The liaison is not allowed
3 - It is not a mandatory to do the liaison
--------------------1 - The liaison is a mandatory-------------------
A - Determinant + noun
Written: un ami.
Spoken: un nami.
A friend.
Written: des endives.
Spoken: des zendives.
Endives.
Written: deux enfants.
Spoken: deu zenfants.
Two children.
Written: tois enfants.
Spoken: troi zenfants.
Three children.
B - Pronoun + verb / Pronoun + Pronoun
- Pronoun + verb
Written: on est là.
Spoken: on nest là.
We are here.
Written: vous avez faim ?
Spoken: vou zavez faim ?
Are you hungry ?
Written: ils ont faim ?
Spoken: il zont faim ?
They are hungry?
- Pronoun + pronoun
Written: ils en veulent encore.
Spoken: il zen veulent encore.
They still want some.
Written: il vous a dit...
Spoken: il vou za dit...
He said to you...
C - Adjective + noun
Written: de vieilles affaires.
Spoken: de vieille zaffaires.
Old things.
Written: de grandes enjambées.
Spoken: de grande zenjambées.
Long strides.
D - One-syllable preposition
Written: dans une minute.
Spoken: dan zune minute.
In one minute.
Written: sans un sou.
Spoken: san zun sou.
Without a penny.
Written: chez eux.
Spoken: che zeux.
In their home.
E - QUAND
The pronunciation of the letter d becomes t
Written: quand elle est là.
Spoken: quan telle est là.
When she is there.
Written: quand est-ce que tu viens ?
Spoken: quan test-ce que tu viens ?
When are you coming?
F - Others cases
Written: les Etats-Unis.
Spoken: les zEtats-Unis.
The United States.
Written: en Août.
Spoken: en nAoût.
In August.
Written: en Amérique.
Spoken: en nAmérique.
In America.
Written: c’est-à-dire.
Spoken: c’es tà dire.
i.e..
Written: peut-être.
Spoken: peu têtre.
Maybe.
--------------------2 - The liaison is not allowed--------------------
A - Noun + Adjective
Written and spoken: un enfant intelligent.
An intelligent child.
Written and spoken: un collier orange.
An orange necklace.
B - ET
Written and spoken: j’ai une fille et un garçon.
I have a daughter and a boy.
Written and spoken: un ami et une amie.
A friend and a girlfriend.
C - Name
Written and spoken: Nicolas est français.
Nicolas is French.
D - Noun + verb
Written and spoken: cet enfant a 10 ans.
This child is 10 years old.
Written and spoken: les enfants aiment jouer.
Children like playing.
E - Aspirated h
Written and spoken: des harictots.
Beans.
--------------------3 - It is not a mandatory to do the liaison-------------------
A - ETRE and AVOIR
Ils sont entrés. = Ils son tentrés.
They went in.
Nous sommes allés. = Nous somme zallés.
We have been.
B - Adverb
Pas encore. = Pa zencore.
Not yet.
C - Others cases
Mais il faut y aller ? = Mai zil faut y aller ?
But do we have to go?
C’est trop important. = C’est tro pimportant.
It is too important.
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Did you manage to pronounce the liaisons properly?
Thomas, your French teacher 😀
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How to pronounce vowels in French?
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