L'alphabet et la prononciation

A1 — Prononciation

French alphabet, nasal vowels, silent letters, liaison

Can recognize French sounds and understand basic pronunciation rules

Examples

Bonjour, je m'appelle Marie. — Hello, my name is Marie.
Le petit chat est grand. — The little cat is big.
Un bon vin blanc français. — A good white French wine.

PrononciationA1

L'alphabet et la prononciation

French alphabet, nasal vowels, silent letters, liaison

Learning Goal

Can recognize French sounds and understand basic pronunciation rules

Exam Skills:Compréhension oraleProduction orale

Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?

Bonjour, je m'appelle Marie.

Hello, my name is Marie.

Le petit chat est grand.

The little cat is big.

Un bon vin blanc français.

A good white French wine.

Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?

L'alphabet français a 26 lettres, comme en anglais, mais la prononciation est très différente. Le français a aussi des voyelles nasales (an, en, in, on, un) et de nombreuses lettres muettes.

Les voyelles nasales :

Son	Graphies	Exemple
[ɑ̃]	an, am, en, em	France, temps
[ɛ̃]	in, im, ain, ein	vin, pain
[ɔ̃]	on, om	bon, nom

Lettres muettes : En français, les consonnes finales sont généralement muettes : petit [pəti], grand [gʁɑ̃], les [le]. Exceptions : C, R, F, L (aide-mémoire : CaReFuL) sont souvent prononcées : sac, pour, neuf, mal.

Le H : Le H est toujours muet en français. Le h aspiré empêche la liaison (les / haricots), le h muet permet l'élision (l'homme).

Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises

Practice Exercises

Learners pronounce silent final consonants and struggle with nasal vowels. 🇬🇧 English speakers: Tend to pronounce all final consonants (saying 'petit' as 'peteet'), struggle with nasal vowels which don't exist in English, and pronounce R as English R instead of uvular [ʁ].

Common Error Patterns

Pronouncing silent final consonants

Remember: most final consonants are silent in French. Use CaReFuL mnemonic for exceptions (C, R, F, L).

Incorrect pronunciation of nasal vowels

Practice the three main nasal vowels: [ɑ̃] (an/en), [ɛ̃] (in/ain), [ɔ̃] (on/om).

Bonjour, je m'appelle Marie.

Hello, my name is Marie.

The 'on' in bonjour is a nasal vowel [ɔ̃]. The final 'e' in Marie is pronounced [i].

Le petit chat est grand.

The little cat is big.

The final 't' in petit and 'd' in grand are silent. Only the liaison context would make them heard.

Un bon vin blanc français.

A good white French wine.

This sentence contains three nasal vowels: bon [ɔ̃], vin [ɛ̃], blanc [ɑ̃]. The final 's' of français is silent.

Practice in course

Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises

A1 Course

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Put it into practice

Try a free exercise from the course

1. Greetings and introductions

Frequently asked questions

When is L'alphabet et la prononciation used?: L' alphabet français a 26 lettres, comme en anglais, mais la prononciation est très différente. Le français a aussi des voyelles nasales (an, en, in, on, un) et de nombreuses lettres muettes .
How is L'alphabet et la prononciation formed?: Lettres muettes : En français, les consonnes finales sont généralement muettes : petit [pəti], grand [gʁɑ̃], les [le]. Exceptions : C, R, F, L (aide-mémoire : CaReFuL ) sont souvent prononcées : sac , pour , neuf , mal . Le H : Le H est toujours muet en français. Le h aspiré empêche la liaison ( les / haricots ), le h muet permet l'élision ( l'homme ).
What are common mistakes with L'alphabet et la prononciation?: Learners pronounce silent final consonants and struggle with nasal vowels. 🇬🇧 English speakers: Tend to pronounce all final consonants (saying 'petit' as 'peteet'), struggle with nasal vowels which don't exist in English, and pronounce R as English R instead of uvular [ʁ]. 🇷🇺 Russian speakers: Handle most consonants well but struggle with nasal vowels (nasalization is foreign to Russian), and may over-pronounce the French R as a Russian uvular sound. 🇨🇿 Czech speakers: May pronounce all written consonants (Czech is phonetic), struggle with nasal vowels, and may use Czech R instead of French uvular [ʁ].

Son

Graphies

Exemple

[ɑ̃]

an, am, en, em

France, temps

[ɛ̃]

in, im, ain, ein

vin, pain

[ɔ̃]

on, om

bon, nom

Frequently asked questions

When is L'alphabet et la prononciation used?

L' alphabet français a 26 lettres, comme en anglais, mais la prononciation est très différente. Le français a aussi des voyelles nasales (an, en, in, on, un) et de nombreuses lettres muettes .

How is L'alphabet et la prononciation formed?

Lettres muettes : En français, les consonnes finales sont généralement muettes : petit [pəti], grand [gʁɑ̃], les [le]. Exceptions : C, R, F, L (aide-mémoire : CaReFuL ) sont souvent prononcées : sac , pour , neuf , mal . Le H : Le H est toujours muet en français. Le h aspiré empêche la liaison ( les / haricots ), le h muet permet l'élision ( l'homme ).

What are common mistakes with L'alphabet et la prononciation?

Learners pronounce silent final consonants and struggle with nasal vowels. 🇬🇧 English speakers: Tend to pronounce all final consonants (saying 'petit' as 'peteet'), struggle with nasal vowels which don't exist in English, and pronounce R as English R instead of uvular [ʁ]. 🇷🇺 Russian speakers: Handle most consonants well but struggle with nasal vowels (nasalization is foreign to Russian), and may over-pronounce the French R as a Russian uvular sound. 🇨🇿 Czech speakers: May pronounce all written consonants (Czech is phonetic), struggle with nasal vowels, and may use Czech R instead of French uvular [ʁ].