Vowels in French can have
accent marks; except for "e", this doesn't usually change the sound:
a, à, â
like
"a" in "father"
e
like "a"
in "about"
é
like
"ay" in "say"
ê
like
"e" in "set"
è
like
"e" in "set"
i, î
like
"ee" in "feed"
o, o, ô, au, eau
like
"oa" in "boat" or "aw" in "law"
ou
like
"oo" in "food", but a pure vowel
u, ù
more or less like
"oo" in "food", but the tongue is like
"ee" in "feed"; written uu in
transcriptions
y
like
"ee" in "feed"
The following video clip shows how to pronounce the letters of the French alphabet:
HOW TO PRONOUNCE FRENCH CONSONANTS
Final consonants of a word are usually
dropped: allez (go) is pronounced ahl-AY, not ahl-AYZ;
tard (late) is pronounce tar, not tard. Also a final
"e" is usually silent. But if the next word begins with a vowel, the
consonant may be pronounced; this is called liaison.
Stress is usually on the last syllable of
a phrase, but sometimes when a word is emphasized, the stress moves to the
middle of the word.
b
like
"b" in "bed"
c
like
"k" in "kill" (before "a", "o",
and "u"), like "s" in "sun" (before
"e" and "i")
ç
like
"s" in "sun"
d
like
"d" in "death"
f
like
"f" in "fun"
g
like
"g" in "go" (before "a", "o",
and "u"), like "g" in "sabotage" (before
"e" and "i" and at the end of words)
h
usually
silent
j
like
"g" in "sabotage"
k
like
"k" in "kill"
l
like
"l" in "like"
m
like
"m" in "me"
n
like
"n" in "nurse" (but see 'Diphthongs' below)
p
like
"p" in "push"
q(u)
like
"k" in "kill" (not like "qu" in
"quick")
r
guttural;
kind of like coughing up a hairball
s
like
"s" in "sun"; like "z" in "zero"
(between two vowels)
