What is a phoneme?
A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound. For example, in the word ‘dog’, there are three units of sound: D-O-G.
In French, there are some phonemes that are different to English ones. Here are ten of the most useful French phonemes:
Pronouncing words in French
The sounds you make when you read French out loud are sometimes different to the ones you’d make in English.
Even if a word looks the same and means the same thing, the way you say it is different in French.
If you have a question the 'q' is a 'k' sound - question.
And 'ion' at the end of a word is 'ee-on' - **la question**.
'r' is pronounced 'rrrr'. So the word for 'correct' is pronounced corrrrrect.
Le train - train. It looks the same and it means the same, but … ain is 'un' -
le train…
Aha! 'La musique' - music. The 'u' sound is pronounced 'oo' - 'La moosique'.
*Bleu - blue. When there’s a word with 'eu' in it that’s an 'eugh' sound -bleu.
These are some of the most common sounds to get you reading French out loud!
Consonants
1. j and g (followed by i or e)
In French, the letter j sounds like the letter s in the English word television.
Je joue au foot le jeudi - I play football on Thursdays.
'j' sounds
Je joue au foot le jeudi.
When a g is followed by e or i, it has the same sound.
La girafe est gigantesque mais gentille - The giraffe is huge but nice/friendly.
(Emphasis on the letters in italics.)
'g' sounds
La girafe est gigantesque mais gentille.
2. ch
In French, the letters ch make the sound sh.
- chou - cabbage
- chaussures - shoes
- cloche - bell
'ch' sounds
- chou
- chaussures
- cloche
3. il
Sometimes, the letters il in French can make the sound ‘eey’ in English, for example in the following words:
- famille - family
- billet - note, ticket
- fille - girl
- vanille - vanilla
'il' sounds
- famille
- billet
- fille
- vanille
4. gn
The letters gn sound like n followed by y. For example:
- signe - sign
- campagne - countryside
- montagne - mountain
'gn' sounds
- signe
- campagne
- montagne
5. qu
When a French word starts with qu, it is almost always pronounced k, rather than 'kw' (as it often is in English).
Il est quatre heures et quart - It’s quarter past four.
There are a few exceptions to this rule, as in the words aquarium and aquatique.
'qu' sounds
Il est quatre heures et quart.
6. r
In French, when there is an r at the start (and often in the middle) of a word, the r sound comes from the back of your throat. At the very end of a word, it is usually silent.
Robert aime manger les raisins et regarder les films romantiques - Robert likes eating grapes and watching romantic films.
'r' sounds
Robert aime manger les raisins et regarder les films romantiques.
Vowels
7. Nasal vowels
When a vowel is followed by m or n in French, they become ‘nasal’ and the m or n isn’t pronounced. ‘Nasal’ means that they are pronounced using the nose and sound a little bit like they would if you had a cold!
Le garçon est dans un champ avec son chien - The boy is in a field with his dog.
'nasal' sounds
Le garçon est dans un champ avec son chien.
8. o
The phoneme o can be made up of a number of different letter combinations in French, such as ‘eau’, ‘au’ ‘aux’ and simply using o.
- eau - water
- gâteau - cake
- gauche - left
- journaux- newspapers
- mot - word
'o' sounds
- eau
- gâteau
- gauche
- journaux
- mot
9. eu
Many words with the letters eu are pronounced similarly to the ‘er’ in teacher in English.
- beurre - butter
- sœur - sister
- heure - hour
'eu' sounds
- beurre
- sœur
- heure
10. oo
There is a small, but important, difference between the oo sound in the French words tu (you) and tout (everything). The oo sound in tout is longer and more rounded than the shorter oo sound in tu. Here are some examples of both sounds:
- tu - you
- tout - everything
- rue - street
- roue - wheel
- bu - drunk (past participle of ‘boire’ - to drink)
- boue - mud
'oo' sounds
- tu
- tout
- rue
- roue
- bu
- boue
More on Using French language
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