Spelling Patterns
French spelling follows more rules than it appears to. These patterns let you spell words you've only heard and catch the errors examiners count against you.
Keeping c and g soft
C and g are hard before a, o and u. To keep them soft in a verb form, write ç or add an e.
-cer
Changec becomes ç before a, o
Examplesnous commençons, il commençait, commençant
-ger
Changeadd e before a, o
Examplesnous mangeons, il mangeait, mangeant
-guer, -quer
Changekeep the u throughout
Examplesnous fatiguons, nous communiquons
Verb stem changes
Stems change when the ending is silent. Nous and vous usually stay as they are.
-e + consonant + er
Changee becomes è
Examplesacheter : j'achète, nous achetons ; lever : il lève
-é + consonant + er
Changeé becomes è
Examplespréférer: je préfère, nous préférons
-eler, -eter, most
Changedouble the consonant
Examplesappeler : j'appelle ; jeter : je jette
-eler, -eter, some
Changeè instead
Examplesacheter : j'achète ; geler : il gèle ; peler : il pèle
-oyer, -uyer
Changey becomes i
Examplesnettoyer : je nettoie ; essuyer : il essuie
-ayer
Changeeither is correct
Examplespayer: je paie or je paye
-ier
Changedouble i in nous, vous, imparfait
Examplesnous étudiions, vous oubliiez
-yer
Changeyi in nous, vous, imparfait
Examplesnous envoyions, vous payiez
Present tense endings
A few endings cover almost everything. Written endings tell you the person when the sound doesn't.
-er verbs, ouvrir type
je-e
tu-es
il-e
Exampleje parle, tu ouvres, il donne
-ir, -re, -oir
je-s
tu-s
il-t
Exampleje finis, tu finis, il finit
-dre verbs, except -indre and -soudre
je-ds
tu-ds
il-d
Exampleje prends, il prend ; il vend, il répond
pouvoir, vouloir, valoir
je-x
tu-x
il-t
Exampleje peux, tu veux, il vaut
-ttre verbs
je-ts
tu-ts
il-t
Exampleje mets, il met ; je bats, il bat
- Il répond et il vend.He answers and he sells.
- Il met le livre là.He puts the book there.
Past participle endings
To find a silent final letter, use the feminine: mise gives mis, faite gives fait, prise gives pris, finie gives fini.
-é
Examplesparlé, donné
Feminine testparlée
-i
Examplesfini, parti, dormi
Feminine testfinie
-is
Examplespris, mis, assis, compris
Feminine testprise, mise
-it
Examplesécrit, dit, fait, conduit
Feminine testécrite, dite, faite
-u
Examplesvendu, lu, voulu, venu
Feminine testvendue, lue
-ert
Examplesouvert, offert, couvert
Feminine testouverte
-int
Examplespeint, craint, éteint
Feminine testpeinte
Spelling a sound: several options
Where one sound has many spellings, position often helps.
/s/
Spellingss, ss, c, ç, t, x
Rules of thumbss between vowels; c before e, i; ç before a, o, u
/k/
Spellingsc, qu, k, ch
Rules of thumbqu before e, i ; c before a, o, u
/ʒ/
Spellingsj, g, ge
Rules of thumbg before e, i ; j or ge before a, o, u
/ɡ/
Spellingsg, gu
Rules of thumbgu before e, i
/f/
Spellingsf, ff, ph
Rules of thumbph in Greek words
/o/
Spellingso, ô, au, eau
Rules of thumb-eau is frequent at word end
/ɛ/
Spellingsè, ê, ai, ei, et, e + consonants
Rules of thumb-et and -ai at word end
/ɛ̃/
Spellingsin, im, ain, aim, ein, en
Rules of thumbim before b, p, m
/ɑ̃/
Spellingsan, am, en, em
Rules of thumbam, em before b, p, m
/ɔ̃/
Spellingson, om
Rules of thumbom before b, p
/j/
Spellingsill, -il, y, i
Rules of thumb-il ends masculine nouns (travail), -ille ends feminine ones (paille)
M before b, p, m
N becomes m before these letters: ampoule, emporter, impossible, combien, emmener. Exceptions: bonbon, bonbonne, néanmoins, and compounds such as mainmise.
- Il est impossible de tout emporter.It's impossible to take everything.
- Combien coûte ce bonbon ?How much is this sweet?
Noun and adjective endings
Useful sets, grouped by sound.
/ɛl/
Masculine-el: le sel, le ciel
Feminine-elle: la pelle, la poubelle
/aj/
Masculine-ail: le travail
Feminine-aille: la paille
/ɛj/
Masculine-eil: le soleil
Feminine-eille: l'abeille
/œj/
Masculine-euil: le fauteuil; -ueil after c, g: l'accueil, l'orgueil
Feminine-euille: la feuille
/waʁ/
Masculine-oir: le miroir
Feminine-oire: la gloire
/e/
Masculine-é, -er: le pré, le rocher
Feminine-ée, -é: l'année, la santé
/ɑ̃s/
Feminine-ance, -ence: la chance, la science
/sjɔ̃/
Feminine-tion, -sion, -ssion: la nation, la passion
Adverbs in -ment
Most add -ment to the feminine form of the adjective. Adjectives ending in -ant and -ent are special.
Regular
Changefeminine + -ment
Exampleslent : lentement ; doux : doucement
Vowel ending
Changemasculine + -ment
Examplesvrai : vraiment ; absolu : absolument ; poli : poliment
-ant
Change-amment
Examplesconstant : constamment ; suffisant : suffisamment
-ent
Change-emment (same sound as -amment)
Examplespatient : patiemment ; évident : évidemment. But lent : lentement
-é ending
Change-ément
Examplesénorme : énormément ; précis : précisément ; profond : profondément
Irregular
Changelearn each one
Examplesgentil : gentiment ; bref : brièvement ; gai : gaiement
- Elle parle couramment, évidemment.She speaks fluently, of course.
- Il a suffisamment travaillé.He has worked enough.
Silent letters: use the word family
A silent letter often returns in a related word. Try a feminine or a verb.
petit
Familypetite
Lettert
grand
Familygrande, grandeur
Letterd
sang
Familysanguin
Letterg
long
Familylongue, longueur
Letterg
tard
Familytarder
Letterd
bras
Familybrasser
Letters
temps
Familytemporel
Letterp
chant
Familychanter
Lettert
doigt
Familydigital
Letterg
Words English speakers misspell
Close to English, but different.
| English | French |
| address | adresse |
| apartment | appartement |
| development | développement |
| environment | environnement |
| government | gouvernement |
| example | exemple |
| literature | littérature |
| marriage | mariage |
| personality | personnalité |
| traffic | trafic |
| rhythm | rythme |
| dance | danse |
| language | langue, langage |
| exercise | exercice |
| responsible | responsable |
| committee | comité |
| connection | connexion |
| professor | professeur |
| aggressive | agressif |
| abbreviation | abréviation |
| comfortable | confortable |
| independent | indépendant |
| resource | ressource |
| mathematics | mathématiques |
| dictionary | dictionnaire |
| tomato | tomate |
Ligatures and hyphens
Œ is written as a joined letter: cœur, sœur, œuf, œil, œuvre, bœuf, nœud, vœu, mœurs. Hyphen rules: inverted verb and pronoun (viens-tu, a-t-il), pronoun after an imperative (donne-le), -ci and -là (ce livre-ci), -même (moi-même), compound numbers up to 100 (vingt-deux), and many compound nouns (grand-mère).
- Ma sœur a le cœur sur la main.My sister is very generous.
- Fais-le toi-même.Do it yourself.
Capitals
Small letters are used for days, months, languages and nationality adjectives. Nationality nouns take a capital: un Français, but il est français and j'apprends le français. Titles capitalise only the first important word, usually: Le Petit Prince, La Peste.
- Un Français parle français en mai.A French person speaks French in May.
- Les Québécois arrivent lundi.The Quebecers arrive on Monday.
The 1990 spelling reform
Both old and new spellings are accepted by the French education authorities. Pick one and be consistent. Main changes: hyphens in compound numbers (vingt-et-un), î and û can drop their accent (maitre, ile), some -eler and -eter verbs (il ruissèle), some words (oignon may be ognon, nénuphar may be nénufar).
| Old | New |
| paraître | paraitre |
| événement | évènement |
| porte-monnaie (plural same) | porte-monnaies |
| mille-pattes | millepattes |
| week-end | weekend |