Do you know how to pronounce vowels in French?
If you are here is that you want to learn and improve your French, well done!
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Here are vowels in French!
The sound [a]
Paris - Paris
Papa - Father/Dad
Des pâtes - Pasta
Voilà - That’s it/Here you go/Here it is
The accent does not change the sound of the vowel a
The accent has no influence on the sound of the vowel a
The sound [e]
For this sound we add the accent aigu on the vowel é
Le blé - The wheat
Le matériel - The material
Le cinéma - The cinema
All the letters ER are pronounced [e]
Marcher - To walk
Sauter - To jump
Parler - To speak/talk
The sound [ɛ]
For this sound we add the accent grave on the vowel è
Merci – Thank you
Pay attention to the fact there is no accent grave on the vowel of the word Merci
Mère - Mother
Zèbre - Zebra
1 mètre - One meter
The vowel e with an accent circonflexe ê can be pronounced è [ɛ] or é [e]
- Here are words whose pronunciation is [ɛ], which is the vast majority:
Un ancêtre - An ancestor
Une bête - A beast / An animal
Une crêpe - French pancake
Une enquête - A survey/An investigation
Extrême - extreme
- Here are words whose pronunciation is [e], which is the minority:
Empêcher - To prevent
Je suis gêné - I am embarrassed
Mêler - To mix
The sound [ø] = le son e fermé
Je - I
Deux - Two
Peu - Few
Un vœu - A wish
Monsieur - Msiter/sir
The sound [œ] = le son e ouvert
La peur - Fear
Un œuf - An egg
Un meuble - A furniture
Un cœur - A heart
The sound [i]
Un(e) ami(e) - Friend
Un cygne - A swan
Joli(e) - beautiful
The sound [o] = le son o fermé
Gauche - Left
Rose - Pink
Sauter - To jump
Eau - Water
The sound [ɔ] = le son o ouvert
Une pomme - An apple
Un corps - A body
Un homme - A man
The sound [y]
Un mur - A wall
Il est connu - He is famous
Un jus - A juice
The sound [u]
Un genou - A knee
Une roue - A wheel
Une soupe - A soup
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Did you manage to pronounce those words properly?
Thomas, your French teacher 😀
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How to pronounce French words?
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