vowels on french

How to pronounce vowels in French?

YouTube

By loading the video, you agree to YouTube's privacy policy.
Learn more

Load video

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!
That’s a great idea 😀

Fast French Learning

Let a comment at the end of the article to tell me what you think about it:

  • Do you like it?
  • Does it help you?
  • Do you have any questions?
  • Do you want to learn more about French pronounciation?

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 gê - 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

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Did you manage to pronounce those words properly? 

Thomas, your French teacher 😀

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

How to pronounce French words?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Share the article :

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *