Pronunciation basics

French spelling looks complicated, but it follows rules. The two big ones: final consonants are usually silent, and the stress always falls on the last syllable.

Silent letters and liaison

• Final e, s, t, d, x are usually silent: petit, grand, deux. Final c, r, f, l are often pronounced (remember CaReFuL): avec, mer, neuf, sel.
• Liaison: a silent final consonant is pronounced before a vowel: les amis [lezami], vous avez.
• Élision: le, la, je, ne, que lose their vowel before a vowel: l’ami, j’ai, qu’il.

Examples

• Bonjour, je m’appelle Paul.Hello, my name is Paul.
• Les enfants sont petits.The children are small.
• Vous avez un stylo ?Do you have a pen?
• C’est l’hôtel de ville.That is the town hall.
• Les amis arrivent à huit heures.The friends arrive at eight.

Common mistakes

• ✗ Je aime le café.✓ J’aime le café.Je drops its e before a vowel and takes an apostrophe, while English never elides a word in writing.
• ✗ C’est le ami de Paul.✓ C’est l’ami de Paul.Le and la lose their vowel before a vowel sound, so you write l’ami and not le ami.
• ✗ Ou est la gare ?✓ Où est la gare ?The accent on où separates it from ou (or), and English has no accents to compare it with.
• ✗ Elle va a Paris.✓ Elle va à Paris.À with an accent means to or at, whereas a without an accent is the verb has.
• ✗ Nous avons un hotel.✓ Nous avons un hôtel.The circumflex in hôtel is part of the spelling and cannot be left out as it is in English hotel.