French notes
The French Alphabet
A
Ah father B
Bay
bathe
C
Say
Set
D
Day
Dare
E
Uh
Earn
F
Eff
Effort
G
Zhay
Corsage (1)
H
Ahsh
Wash
I
Ee
Equator
J
Zhee
Corsage (1)
K
Kah
Cut
L
El
Elephant
M
Em
Emerald
N
En
Energy
O
Oh
Old
P
Pay
Pair
Q
Kuu
(2)
R
Ehrr
Err
S
Ess
Essence
T
Tay
Tip
U
Ew
(3)
V
Veh
Very
W
Doobla-vay
(4)
X
Eeks
(5)
Y
ee-grek
(6)
z
Zed
1. French g=English j, French j=English g, French I=English E
2. Vowel following Q=Mouth in the “ee” formation, say “oo”
3. This is the vowel pronounced when saying the name of the letter Q
4. Rare in French words, can sound like English W or English V
5. X can be French Z, English X, or the English S
6. Y is usually pronounced like the French I
French Accents
L’accent aigu:
The aigu is placed over the letter “e” like this: é
The “é” sounds like the “a” in babe.
“É” is an ay sound stopped before its completion—as though someone did not let you finish your word!
The French “–er” makes the same sound as the “é.”
L’accent grave:
Found on the letters “a” and “e”
Looks like: “à” and “è”
The letter à sounds like the “a” in the English word “papa”
The letter è sounds like the short “e” in the English word let
L’accent circonflexe:
Looks like a hat on top of all the vowels
It puts an extra stress on the vowel so that you hold it a little longer â = the aa sound like father ê = the eh sound like met î = the ee sound like meet ô = the oh sound like hole û = the uu sound like super
La cédille:
Cédille literally means “little zed” or “little z”
Attached to the bottom of the “c” like this: ç
Makes the C sound like an S
Tréma
Indicates two vowels written together should be pronounced separately (le Noël – Christmas (no-el) and haïr – to hate (ha-eer) are examples)
Liaison and Elision
La Liaison
Used to help French pronunciation flow more easily
Occurs when the final consonant sound of a word is connected to the first vowel or
A
Ah father B
Bay
bathe
C
Say
Set
D
Day
Dare
E
Uh
Earn
F
Eff
Effort
G
Zhay
Corsage (1)
H
Ahsh
Wash
I
Ee
Equator
J
Zhee
Corsage (1)
K
Kah
Cut
L
El
Elephant
M
Em
Emerald
N
En
Energy
O
Oh
Old
P
Pay
Pair
Q
Kuu
(2)
R
Ehrr
Err
S
Ess
Essence
T
Tay
Tip
U
Ew
(3)
V
Veh
Very
W
Doobla-vay
(4)
X
Eeks
(5)
Y
ee-grek
(6)
z
Zed
1. French g=English j, French j=English g, French I=English E
2. Vowel following Q=Mouth in the “ee” formation, say “oo”
3. This is the vowel pronounced when saying the name of the letter Q
4. Rare in French words, can sound like English W or English V
5. X can be French Z, English X, or the English S
6. Y is usually pronounced like the French I
French Accents
L’accent aigu:
The aigu is placed over the letter “e” like this: é
The “é” sounds like the “a” in babe.
“É” is an ay sound stopped before its completion—as though someone did not let you finish your word!
The French “–er” makes the same sound as the “é.”
L’accent grave:
Found on the letters “a” and “e”
Looks like: “à” and “è”
The letter à sounds like the “a” in the English word “papa”
The letter è sounds like the short “e” in the English word let
L’accent circonflexe:
Looks like a hat on top of all the vowels
It puts an extra stress on the vowel so that you hold it a little longer â = the aa sound like father ê = the eh sound like met î = the ee sound like meet ô = the oh sound like hole û = the uu sound like super
La cédille:
Cédille literally means “little zed” or “little z”
Attached to the bottom of the “c” like this: ç
Makes the C sound like an S
Tréma
Indicates two vowels written together should be pronounced separately (le Noël – Christmas (no-el) and haïr – to hate (ha-eer) are examples)
Liaison and Elision
La Liaison
Used to help French pronunciation flow more easily
Occurs when the final consonant sound of a word is connected to the first vowel or