H Aspiré
The French h is never pronounced, but some words behave as if a consonant were there. These block elision and liaison, and using them wrong instantly sounds off.
Two kinds of h
H muet behaves like a vowel: elision and liaison happen. H aspiré, despite the name, makes no sound, but it acts like a consonant: no elision and no liaison. Dictionaries often mark it with an asterisk or an apostrophe.
Article
H muetl'homme, l'hôtel
H aspiréle héros, la honte
Plural
H muetles hommes /le-zɔm/
H aspiréles héros /le-eʁo/
With de
H muetd'homme, d'hôtel
H aspiréde héros, de honte
With ce
H muetcet homme
H aspiréce héros
Masc. adjective
H muetun bel homme, un vieil hôtel
H aspiréun beau héros, un vieux hibou
Possessive
H muetmon histoire
H aspiréma honte
With je
H muetj'habite
H aspiréje hais
With ne
H muetil n'habite pas
H aspiréil ne hait pas
- Les hommes et les héros.The men and the heroes.
- Cet hôtel est en haut de la colline.This hotel is at the top of the hill.
Common h aspiré words
A limited set, and this list isn't complete. Learn these with the article, since many are everyday words. Many came from Germanic languages or are recent loans.
| Word | Meaning |
| la hache | axe |
| le handicap | disability |
| la haie | hedge |
| le hangar | shed |
| la haine | hatred |
| le harcèlement | harassment |
| le hall | lobby |
| le haricot | bean |
| la halte | stop |
| le hasard | chance |
| le hamac | hammock |
| la hâte | haste |
| le hameau | hamlet |
| la hausse | rise |
| la hanche | hip |
| le haut, la hauteur | top, height |
| le héros | hero |
| le hérisson | hedgehog |
| le hêtre | beech |
| le hibou | owl |
| la hiérarchie | hierarchy |
| le hockey | hockey |
| le homard | lobster |
| la honte | shame |
| le hoquet | hiccup |
| le hublot | porthole |
| le huit | eight |
| la hutte | hut |
| le hamburger | hamburger |
| le hamster | hamster |
Verbs and adjectives
Elision is blocked in verbs too: je hais, not j'hais.
haïr
Meaningto hate
Adjectiveshaut
Meaninghigh
hausser
Meaningto raise
Adjectiveshonteux
Meaningashamed
heurter
Meaningto hit, to bump
Adjectiveshideux
Meaninghideous
hurler
Meaningto howl, to scream
Adjectiveshardi
Meaningbold
harceler
Meaningto harass
Adjectiveshautain
Meaninghaughty
hocher
Meaningto nod
Adjectiveshollandais
MeaningDutch
se hâter
Meaningto hurry
Adjectiveshongrois
MeaningHungarian
- Je hais le mensonge.I hate lies.
- Il ne hurle jamais.He never screams.
- Par hasard, elle s'est heurtée à la porte.By chance, she bumped into the door.
Common h muet words
Most h words are muet. These are the most frequent, so you can elide without fear.
| Word | Meaning |
| l'homme | man |
| l'hôtel | hotel |
| l'heure | hour |
| l'herbe | grass |
| l'histoire | history, story |
| l'hiver | winter |
| l'hôpital | hospital |
| l'huile | oil |
| l'huître | oyster |
| l'humour | humour |
| l'habitude | habit |
| l'habitant | inhabitant |
| l'harmonie | harmony |
| l'hélicoptère | helicopter |
| l'hôte | host |
| l'honneur | honour |
| l'horloge | clock |
| l'horizon | horizon |
| l'humeur | mood |
| l'hirondelle | swallow |
| l'héritage | inheritance |
| l'hypothèse | hypothesis |
Trap pairs
The same root can have both kinds, and look-alike words can differ. These are worth memorising.
| H aspiré | Elided look-alike |
| le héros | l'héroïne, l'héroïsme, héroïque |
| le hêtre (beech) | l'être (being) |
| la hotte (cooker hood) | l'hôte (host) |
| la haine (hatred) | l'aine (groin) |
- Le héros et l'héroïne de ce roman.The hero and heroine of this novel.
Why les héros matters
With a liaison, les héros would sound like les zéros, 'the zeros'. That's a classic reason French speakers are careful here.
- Les héros ne sont pas des zéros.Heroes aren't zeros.
Words acting like h aspiré
A few words starting with a vowel or y also block elision and liaison, even with no h.
onze, onzième
Examplele onze mars, les onze joueurs
NoteNo elision, no liaison
oui
Examplele oui, mais oui
NoteNo liaison
un (number)
Examplele un, cent un
NoteAs a number
yaourt
Examplele yaourt
NoteAlso le yacht, le yoga
huit, huitième
Examplele huit mai, les huit ans
NoteAn h aspiré word that behaves like onze. Liaison blocked, but dix-huit is normal
- Nous partons le onze.We're leaving on the eleventh.
- Le yaourt est bon.The yoghurt is good.
Practice and fixed phrases
These fixed expressions appear in speech a lot. Listen for the missing liaison in en haut and les hors-d'œuvre.
| Phrase | English |
| en haut, en hausse | at the top, on the rise |
| par hasard | by chance |
| hors de question | out of the question |
| un hors-d'œuvre, les hors-d'œuvre | a starter, starters |
| le haut-parleur, les haut-parleurs | loudspeaker, loudspeakers |
| à haute voix | out loud |
| sans hâte | unhurriedly |
- C'est hors de question.It's out of the question.
- Il lit à haute voix.He reads out loud.