Guide to French pronunciation & spelling

Saying and spelling different French sounds

French has many sounds that sound similar to one another, or that are pronounced in the same way but written differently.

The best way to avoid spelling mistakes is to learn as much vocabulary as possible, but there are a few pronunciation rules that can help, too.

Read on to learn all about how to pronounce the sounds an, in, o, s, j and g, e, é and è.

Contents

The sound ã

The sound ã can be written as an, en, am or em.

It is always written with an m (em/am) before the letters b, p and m.

Examples:
 les parents the parents
 embrasser to embrace

The sound ɛ̃

The sound ɛ̃ can be written as in (im before the letters b or p), un, ain, aim, ein, eim, en, yn or ym.

Examples:
 imprécis imprecise
 une main a hand
 tiens ! Here!

The sound o

The sound o can be pronounced in two ways—open or closed—and is written as o, ô, au or eau.

  • When written as o, the sound o can be open or closed
Examples:
 une pomme an apple (open)
 le métro the metro (closed)
  • When written as au, it can be open or closed
Examples:
 c’est Paul that’s Paul (open)
 crapaud toad (closed)
  • When written as eau or ô, o is always closed
 un château a castle (closed)
 fantôme ghost (closed)

The sound s

The sound s can be written as s, ss, sc, c, ç, t or x.

  • The letter s is pronounced as s when:
    – it comes at the beginning of the word
    – it comes after a consonant
    – it is doubled
Examples:
 le soleil the sun
 consonne ; pansement consonant; plaster
 poisson fish
  • Note: the letter s is pronounced as z when it appears between two vowels
Example:
 maison house
  • The letters sc are pronounced as s when they come before an i or an e
Example:
 ascenseur lift
  • The letter c is pronounced as s when it comes before the vowels e, i or y
Examples:
 cérémonie ; citron ; bicyclette ceremony; lemon; bicycle
  • Watch out: the letter c is pronounced as a hard k when it comes before the vowels a, o or u
Example:
 camarade ; colère ; cuisine friend; anger; kitchen
  • A c with a cedilla (ç) is always pronounced as s; it comes before the vowels a, o or u
Example:
 garçon ; reçu ; balançoire boy; received; swing
  • The letter t is pronounced as s when it comes after an i and before a vowel
Example:
 addition ; ambitieux bill; ambitious
  • The letter x is sometimes pronounced as s when it comes at the end of a word
Example:
 le numéro dix the number ten

The sounds g and ʒ

  • The sound g is hard; it’s mostly written as g or in rare cases as c
    – The letter g is pronounced as g in front of the vowels a, o and u
    – The letter g is pronounced as g in the word second and words derived from it
Example:
 garage ; gomme ; guitare garage; eraser; guitar
 secondaire secondary
  • The sound ʒ is soft; it can be written as g or j
    – The letter g is pronounced as ʒ in front of the vowels e, i and y
    – The letter j is always pronounced as ʒ
Example:
 genou ; girafe ; gymnastique knee; giraffe; gymnastics

The letter g

In summary, when the letter g comes before the vowels a, o or u, it’s pronounced as a hard g.

When g comes before the vowels e, i or y, it’s a soft ʒ.

The sounds e and ε

  • The sound ε can be written as è, ê, et, ei or ai/aî
Examples:
 pièce ; enquête room; survey
 le billet the ticket
 la reine the queen
 la chaise ; une aile the chair; a wing
  • ε can also be written as e before a double consonant, after the letter t or before an r at the end of a word
Examples:
 la terre ; la mer the earth; the sea
  • The sound e can also be written as é(e), er, ef, ed, ez, es, ai
Examples:
 école ; société school; society
 épée ; cheminée sword; chimney
 regarder ; boulanger to look; baker
 pied  nez foot; nose
 ces these  mes my  les the
 une aiguille a needle
  • The sound e can also be written as e before a double consonant
Examples
 efficace ; dessin effective; drawing