Vowel Sounds in French

French and English share some vowel sounds but others can be quite different.

a (short a)
sac (SAK) = bag

a, â (ah)
bas (BAH) = stocking
gâteau (gah-TOH) = cake

é, ay, er, ez (long a)
bébé (bay-BAY) = baby
pays (pay-EE) = country
parler (pahr-LAY) = to speak
nez (NAY) = nose

e (short u)
le (LUH) = the
me (MUH) = myself
renard (ruh-NAHR) = fox

e, è, ë, ê, ai,ei (short e)
mets (meh) = put
poète (poh-EHT) - poet
Noël (noh-EL) = Christmas
être (EH-truh) = to be
aime (EM) = love, loves
beigne (BEHN-yuh) = donut

eu (a strange blend of short u and r)
bleu (BLEUH) = blue

eu, oeu (a more open version of the above sound)
heure (UHR) = hour
coeur (KUHR) = heart

i, î, y (long e)
livre (LEE-vruh) = book
île (EEL) = island
gymnase (zheem-NAZ) = gymnasium

ou, oux, oû (oo like boot)
hibou (ee-BOO) = owl
bijoux (bee-ZHOO) = jewelry
août (OO) = August

u (long u, put your teeth in ee position, your lips in oo position)
tortue (tor-TU) = turtle

oi, oy (oo-ah, like wah)
roi (RWAH) = king
royal (rwah-YAL) = royal

o, au, eau, ô (long o)
pot (POH) = jar
autobus (oh-toh-BUS) = bus
cadeau (ka-DOH) = gift
rôle (ROHL) = role

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The French Alphabet

The French language uses an alphabet that is identical to the English alphabet. The names of the letters and their sounds are not the same however! Compare the French letter names with their English counterparts.

(Please note that the guides to pronunciation only give a rough idea of what things really sound like in French. Listen to the podcast to hear the correct pronunciation.)
A - ah
B - bay
C - say
D - day
E - uh
F - eff
G - zhay*
H - ash
I - ee
J - zhee*
K - kah
L - el
M - em
N - en
O - oh
P - pay
Q - koo
R - ayr
S - es
T - tay
U - ooh
V - vay
W - DOO-bluh-vay
X - eeks
Y - ee-GREK
Z - zed

* zh sounds like "g" in beige or "s" in measure.

What letter names are the same in French?
What letter names are different?

Notice that the name for "W" is like double-V instead of double-U as in English. This makes sense to me!

The name for "Y" is interesting in French. It means "Greek i". The letter Y looks like the Greek upper case alphabet letter upsilon.

Visit our sponsor Nallenart for French curriculum and teaching aids.

http://www.nallenart.on.ca/