Silent Letters

Most final consonants in French are silent, and one memory word tells you the usual exceptions. Knowing the exceptions stops a lot of reading-aloud mistakes.

The default rule

A final consonant is usually silent. Letters that usually stay silent at the end: d, g, p, s, t, x, z. A final e is also silent, but it makes the consonant before it sound. That's why many feminine forms sound different.

Masculine	Sound	Feminine	Sound
petit	/pəti/	petite	/pətit/
grand	/ɡʁɑ̃/	grande	/ɡʁɑ̃d/
français	/fʁɑ̃sɛ/	française	/fʁɑ̃sɛz/
long	/lɔ̃/	longue	/lɔ̃ɡ/
gris	/ɡʁi/	grise	/ɡʁiz/
blanc	/blɑ̃/	blanche	/blɑ̃ʃ/

petit

Sound/pəti/

Femininepetite

Sound/pətit/

grand

Sound/ɡʁɑ̃/

Femininegrande

Sound/ɡʁɑ̃d/

français

Sound/fʁɑ̃sɛ/

Femininefrançaise

Sound/fʁɑ̃sɛz/

long

Sound/lɔ̃/

Femininelongue

Sound/lɔ̃ɡ/

gris

Sound/ɡʁi/

Femininegrise

Sound/ɡʁiz/

blanc

Sound/blɑ̃/

Feminineblanche

Sound/blɑ̃ʃ/

Le petit garçon et la petite fille.The little boy and the little girl.
Il est grand, elle est grande.He's tall, she's tall.

CaReFuL: the exceptions

Final c, r, f and l are usually pronounced: avec, sac, parc, mer, pour, soir, neuf, chef, vif, sel, mal, avril.

The r has one big exception: -er in verbs and most nouns or adjectives sounds /e/. Each letter also has its own short exceptions.

Letter	Usually sounded	Silent in
c	sac, lac, avec, chic, parc	banc, blanc, franc, tabac, estomac, porc, caoutchouc
r	mer, car, sur, fleur, pour	-⁠er: parler, boulanger, premier, léger ; monsieur
f	chef, neuf, œuf, vif, soif	clef, nerf, cerf, plural œufs, bœufs
l	sel, mal, fil, avril, ciel	gentil, fusil, outil, sourcil, persil, pouls

Usually soundedsac, lac, avec, chic, parc

Silent inbanc, blanc, franc, tabac, estomac, porc, caoutchouc

Usually soundedmer, car, sur, fleur, pour

Silent in-⁠er: parler, boulanger, premier, léger ; monsieur

Usually soundedchef, neuf, œuf, vif, soif

Silent inclef, nerf, cerf, plural œufs, bœufs

Usually soundedsel, mal, fil, avril, ciel

Silent ingentil, fusil, outil, sourcil, persil, pouls

-er: when r is sounded

Short words and some exceptions keep the /ɛʁ/ sound.

Sounds /e/	Sounds /ɛʁ/
parler, manger, aller	mer, fer, ver, cher, fier
boulanger, boucher, escalier	hier, hiver, enfer, amer
premier, dernier, léger	cuiller, cancer, super, laser

Silent finals that do sound in some words

Learn these as exceptions. They come up frequently.

Letter	Sounded in	Silent in
s	fils, sens, mars, ours, os (one), bus, plus (more), tous (pronoun), hélas, tennis, as	fis, dans, tu parles, gros, mois, os (plural)
t	net, sept, huit, est (east), ouest, brut, direct, correct, but (often)	est (is), et, petit, chat, fruit
d	sud, week-end	grand, pied, chaud, nord, froid
p	cap, stop, slip, top	trop, beaucoup, loup, coup, drap
g	gag, grog	long, sang, vingt, doigt
x	six, dix (alone), index, thorax	deux, prix, voix, heureux
z	gaz, jazz	nez, chez, riz, parlez
b	club, snob, pub	plomb, aplomb
n, m	abdomen, album	bon, nom (nasal, n is silent)

Sounded infils, sens, mars, ours, os (one), bus, plus (more), tous (pronoun), hélas, tennis, as

Silent infis, dans, tu parles, gros, mois, os (plural)

Sounded innet, sept, huit, est (east), ouest, brut, direct, correct, but (often)

Silent inest (is), et, petit, chat, fruit

Sounded insud, week-end

Silent ingrand, pied, chaud, nord, froid

Sounded incap, stop, slip, top

Silent introp, beaucoup, loup, coup, drap

Sounded ingag, grog

Silent inlong, sang, vingt, doigt

Sounded insix, dix (alone), index, thorax

Silent indeux, prix, voix, heureux

Sounded ingaz, jazz

Silent innez, chez, riz, parlez

Sounded inclub, snob, pub

Silent inplomb, aplomb

n, m

Sounded inabdomen, album

Silent inbon, nom (nasal, n is silent)

Son fils joue au tennis en mars.His son plays tennis in March.
Ils sont tous là.They're all here.
Le vent vient du sud et de l'ouest.The wind comes from the south and west.

Silent verb endings

All these endings sound the same, which helps in speech and hurts in dictation.

Form	Silent part	Examples
-⁠e, -⁠es, -⁠ent	all silent	je parle, tu parles, ils parlent: all /paʁl/
-⁠s, -⁠t, -⁠d, -⁠x after a vowel or consonant	all silent	je fais, il fait ; je prends, il prend ; je veux, il veut
-⁠ez, -⁠er, -⁠é, -⁠ée, -⁠és, -⁠ées	same sound /e/	parlez, parler, parlé, parlée
-⁠ais, -⁠ait, -⁠aient	same sound /ɛ/	je parlais, il parlait, ils parlaient

-e, -es, -ent

Silent partall silent

Examplesje parle, tu parles, ils parlent: all /paʁl/

-s, -t, -d, -x after a vowel or consonant

Silent partall silent

Examplesje fais, il fait ; je prends, il prend ; je veux, il veut

-ez, -er, -é, -ée, -és, -ées

Silent partsame sound /e/

Examplesparlez, parler, parlé, parlée

-ais, -ait, -aient

Silent partsame sound /ɛ/

Examplesje parlais, il parlait, ils parlaient

Silent letters inside words

These can't be guessed from spelling. Learn each with its sound.

Word	Sound	Silent
temps	/tɑ̃/	p, s
corps	/kɔʁ/	p, s
compter	/kɔ̃te/	p
sept	/sɛt/	p
baptême	/batɛm/	p
sculpture	/skyltyʁ/	p
vingt	/vɛ̃/	g, t
doigt	/dwa/	g, t
poids	/pwa/	d, s
monsieur	/məsjø/	n, r
faisons	/fəzɔ̃/	ai sounds /ə/
oignon	/ɔɲɔ̃/	i
automne	/otɔn/	m
femme	/fam/	e sounds /a/

temps

Sound/tɑ̃/

Silentp, s

corps

Sound/kɔʁ/

Silentp, s

compter

Sound/kɔ̃te/

Silentp

sept

Sound/sɛt/

Silentp

baptême

Sound/batɛm/

Silentp

sculpture

Sound/skyltyʁ/

Silentp

vingt

Sound/vɛ̃/

Silentg, t

doigt

Sound/dwa/

Silentg, t

poids

Sound/pwa/

Silentd, s

monsieur

Sound/məsjø/

Silentn, r

faisons

Sound/fəzɔ̃/

Silentai sounds /ə/

oignon

Sound/ɔɲɔ̃/

Silenti

automne

Sound/otɔn/

Silentm

femme

Sound/fam/

Silente sounds /a/

Same spelling, different sound

Word type decides. Homographs appear in reading aloud, a common place to catch learners out.

Spelling	First reading	Second reading
président	le président: /pʁezidɑ̃/	ils président: /pʁezid/
couvent	le couvent: /kuvɑ̃/ (convent)	elles couvent: /kuv/ (brood)
portions	les portions: /pɔʁsjɔ̃/	nous portions: /pɔʁtjɔ̃/
fils	le fils: /fis/ (son)	les fils: /fil/ (threads)
plus	plus de pain: /plys/	ne... plus: /ply/
est	l'est: /ɛst/ (east)	il est: /ɛ/ (is)
tous	ils sont tous là: /tus/	tous les jours: /tu/
os	un os: /ɔs/	des os: /o/ (traditionally)

président

First readingle président: /pʁezidɑ̃/

Second readingils président: /pʁezid/

couvent

First readingle couvent: /kuvɑ̃/ (convent)

Second readingelles couvent: /kuv/ (brood)

portions

First readingles portions: /pɔʁsjɔ̃/

Second readingnous portions: /pɔʁtjɔ̃/

fils

First readingle fils: /fis/ (son)

Second readingles fils: /fil/ (threads)

plus

First readingplus de pain: /plys/

Second readingne... plus: /ply/

est

First readingl'est: /ɛst/ (east)

Second readingil est: /ɛ/ (is)

tous

First readingils sont tous là: /tus/

Second readingtous les jours: /tu/

First readingun os: /ɔs/

Second readingdes os: /o/ (traditionally)

Les poules du couvent couvent.The convent's hens are brooding.
Tous les enfants sont partis. Ils sont tous partis.All the children have gone. They've all gone.

Numbers before a noun

Five numbers change their final sound. See the numbers-dates-time sheet.

Six livres, six amis, il en a six.Six books, six friends, he has six.
Dix minutes, dix ans, le dix.Ten minutes, ten years, the tenth.
Huit jours, huit ans, le huit.Eight days, eight years, the eighth.

Words with -ille

Ille usually sounds /ij/, but a small group uses /il/.

/ij/	/il/
fille, famille, gentille, billet, bille	ville, mille, village, tranquille, Lille, million

How silent letters come back

Liaison can sound a silent letter before a vowel. So the rule isn't that the letter disappears, but that it waits. See the liaison-enchainement sheet.

Les enfants ont un petit ami.The children have a little friend.
Vous avez trois amis.You have three friends.