How French sounds, read 5 of 15, 3 min
Silent letters and linking words
Lettres muettes et liaison
French looks longer than it sounds. Learn three rules here and written words will stop surprising you.
Rule 1: the end of a word is usually silent
Final consonants are normally silent, and so is a final e. A consonant followed by a final e is heard, which is why grande sounds different from grand. The word "CaReFuL" helps you remember the letters often sounded at the end: c, r, f and l.
- petitpuh-teesmall (masculine)
- petitepuh-teetsmall (feminine)
- les chatslay shathe cats
- avecthe c is heardwith
- neufthe f is heardnine, new
- selthe l is heardsalt
Rule 2: verb ending -ent is silent
On a verb, -ent makes no sound at all, so « il parle » and « ils parlent » sound the same. This applies to verbs only: in the word moment, the ending is a nasal vowel.
- il parlehe speaks
- ils parlentthey speak
- un momentnot a verb, so -ent is nasala moment
Rule 3: words join together
French flows as one stream. In liaison, a silent final consonant wakes up to join a vowel in the next word, with s and x becoming z. Small words also lose their vowel before another vowel or silent h, which is called elision: « le ami » becomes « l'ami ».
- vous avezvoo-za-vayyou have
- un amithe n joins: uh-na-meea friend
- deux enfantsthe x becomes ztwo children
- l'hommele + hommethe man
- j'aimeje + aimeI like, I love
The English sound guides are only rough. When they disagree with the voice, go with the voice.