Oral Vowels
French vowels are pure: the tongue and lips hold still, with no English-style glide. Most of them come in close pairs that change meaning, and lip rounding does much of the work.
The oral vowels
IPA symbols in slashes. Hold each sound steady. French 'é' isn't English 'ay', and French 'o' isn't English 'oh'.
/i/
Spellingsi, î, ï, y
Examplessi, île, stylo
How to make itSmile, tongue high and forward. Shorter than 'see'
/e/
Spellingsé, -er, -ez, et, -es in les and des, -ai in je parlai
Examplesété, parler, nez
How to make itLips spread, jaw nearly closed. No 'y' glide
/ɛ/
Spellingsè, ê, ai, ei, e + 2 consonants, -et
Examplesmère, fête, lait, belle
How to make itJaw more open, like 'bed'
/a/
Spellingsa, à
Exampleschat, là
How to make itOpen and front, between 'cat' and 'father'
/ɑ/
Spellingsâ, some -as
Examplespâte, pas
How to make itBack 'a'. Fading: many speakers use /a/ here
/ɔ/
Spellingso + sounded consonant, au before r, au in Paul
Examplesporte, mort, Paul
How to make itRounded and open, close to 'cot' in British English
/o/
Spellingsô, au, eau, o at syllable end
Examplesmot, chaud, beau, côte
How to make itTightly rounded, no 'w' glide at the end
/u/
Spellingsou, où, oû
Examplesloup, où, goût
How to make itTight, forward round lips
/y/
Spellingsu, û
Examplesrue, sûr
How to make itSay /i/, keep the tongue there, round the lips. No English match
/ø/
Spellingseu, œu at syllable end
Examplesdeux, peu, vœu
How to make itSay /e/, round the lips
/œ/
Spellingseu, œu + consonant
Examplespeur, sœur, jeune
How to make itSay /ɛ/, round the lips
/ə/
Spellingse in one-syllable words and open syllables
Examplesle, je, petit
How to make itWeak, close to /ø/, often dropped
Minimal pairs
Pairs that differ only by a vowel. Practise these out loud, and check by recording yourself.
/y/ and /u/
Pairstu, tout ; rue, roue ; dessus, dessous ; vu, vous ; lu, loup
Meaningyou, all; street, wheel; on top, below; seen, you; read, wolf
/i/ and /y/
Pairssi, su ; dire, dur ; vie, vue ; lit, lu
Meaningif, known; to say, hard; life, view; bed, read
/e/ and /ɛ/
Pairsfée, fait ; pré, prêt ; thé, taie
Meaningfairy, fact; meadow, ready; tea, pillowcase
/ø/ and /œ/
Pairsjeûne, jeune ; veut, veulent
Meaningfast, young; wants, want
/o/ and /ɔ/
Pairssaule, sol ; côte, cote ; paume, pomme
Meaningwillow, ground; coast, rating; palm, apple
/ə/ and /e/
Pairsle, les ; je, j'ai ; ce, ces ; de, des
Meaningthe (sg), the (pl); I, I have; this, these; of, some
/ø/ and /o/
Pairsdeux, dos ; peu, pot ; feu, faux
Meaningtwo, back; little, pot; fire, false
/e/ and /a/
Pairsmes, ma ; tes, ta ; ses, sa
Meaningmy (pl), my (f); your; his or her
- Tu as vu tout le monde dans la rue.You saw everyone in the street.
- Le thé de ma sœur est très chaud.My sister's tea is very hot.
Letter combinations
Fixed values, and these rarely vary.
ou
Sound/u/
Examplesvous, jour
oi
Sound/wa/
Examplesmoi, trois
oy
Sound/waj/
Examplesvoyage, royal
au, eau
Sound/o/
Examplesfaux, eau
ai, ei
Sound/ɛ/
Examplesmais, neige
eu, œu
Sound/ø/ or /œ/
Examplesbleu, cœur
ui
Sound/ɥi/
Exampleslui, nuit
ou + vowel
Sound/w/
Examplesoui, ouest
ill
Sound/ij/ (usually)
Examplesfille, famille
vowel + il, ill
Sound/j/ added
Examplestravail, soleil, feuille
ay
Sound/ɛj/
Examplespayer, essayer
Semi-vowels
Three glides join a vowel to the next sound. Don't split them into two syllables: lui is one syllable. Oui, huit and Louis are a classic test, since /w/ and /ɥ/ differ.
/j/
Spellingsi + vowel, y, ill, -il
Examplesbien, yeux, fille, travail
/w/
Spellingsou + vowel, oi
Examplesoui, moi, louer
PairLouis /lwi/
/ɥ/
Spellingsu + vowel
Exampleshuit, lui, nuage
Pairlui /lɥi/
E in its forms
Letter e is the most variable letter. Accent and position decide its value.
é
Sound/e/
Examplesété, café
è, ê
Sound/ɛ/
Examplespère, tête
e + 2 consonants or x
Sound/ɛ/
Examplesbelle, merci, exemple
e at the end of a syllable
Sound/ə/ or silent
Examplespetit, demain
e at the end of a word
Soundsilent
Examplestable, belle
-er, -ez at word end
Sound/e/
Examplesparler, chez
-es in plural endings, verbs
Soundsilent
Examplestables, tu parles
-ent in ils form
Soundsilent
Examplesils parlent
Open or closed: the position rule
A guide for standard French. A vowel at the end of a syllable tends to be closed (/e/, /ø/, /o/). A vowel followed by a pronounced consonant in the same syllable tends to be open (/ɛ/, /œ/, /ɔ/). Compare peu and peur, sot and sotte, mes and mer.
Many speakers no longer distinguish final -é from -ais, so je parlerai and je parlerais often sound alike. Keep them distinct in careful speech, and don't worry if you hear them merged.
The schwa /ə/
Often dropped in everyday speech, and always heard as weak. Keep it when dropping would leave three consonants together. Details are in the spoken-french sheet.
petit
Careful/pəti/
Everyday/pti/
samedi
Careful/samədi/
Everyday/samdi/
je ne sais pas
Careful/ʒə nə sɛ pa/
Everyday/ʃɛ pa/
appartement
Careful/apaʁtəmɑ̃/
Everyday/apaʁtmɑ̃/
Common English habits to drop
Each of these marks an accent.
1. Diphthongs: say /e/ and /o/ as a single steady sound. Café isn't 'caff-ay'. 2. Reduced vowels: English weakens unstressed vowels to 'uh'. French keeps them clear in every syllable: université has five full vowels. 3. Lazy lips: /y/, /ø/, /œ/ and /u/ need real rounding. 4. Nasalising before n or m: an English habit that blurs bonne into bon.
- L'université de Bordeaux.The University of Bordeaux.
- Le café est au coin de la rue.The café is on the street corner.