How French sounds, read 1 of 15, 3 min
The alphabet and accents
L'alphabet et les accents
French uses the same 26 letters as English, but names many of them differently, and adds a few accents. You need the letter names for spelling your name out loud.
The 26 letters
Tap any letter to hear its French name. The ones that catch English speakers are e, g, i and j. French g is "zhay" and French j is "zhee", close to the reverse of English.
- Aah
- Bbay
- Csay
- Dday
- Euh
- Feff
- Gzhay
- Hash
- Iee
- Jzhee
- Kkah
- Lell
- Mem
- Nen
- Ooh
- Ppay
- Qkew, with tight round lips
- Rair
- Sess
- Ttay
- Uew, with tight round lips
- Vvay
- Wdoo-bluh vay
- Xeeks
- Yee grek
- Zzed
What the accents do
Accents aren't decoration. Some change the sound, and some tell two words apart. On é the sound is always a tight "ay". On è and ê it's an open "eh". The others mostly leave the sound alone.
- éay, as in cafécafé = coffee, café
- èeh, as in mèremère = mother
- êeh, as in fêtefête = party
- àah, as in làlà = there, but la = the
- ùoo, as in oùoù = where, but ou = or
- çs, as in françaisfrançais = French
- ïsplit the vowels: mah-eesmaïs = corn
Spelling out loud
For a double letter, say « deux » first. An accent is named after the letter: « e accent aigu » for é and « e accent grave » for è.
- Comment ça s'écrit ?How is that spelled?
- Anne : A, deux N, EAnne: A, double N, E
- e accent aigué
- e accent graveè
The English sound guides are only rough. When they disagree with the voice, go with the voice.