French 1.1 Letters

French Letters

A - “Ah”

B - “Beh”

C - “Seh”

D - “Deh”

E - “Euh”

F - “Eff”

G - “Guh”

H - Silent

I - “Ieh” or “Eee”

J - “Jzuh”

K - “Kuh”

L - “Luh”

M - “Em”

N - “En”

O - “O (flat)”

P - “Peh”

Q - “Kuh”

R - “Errh”

S - “Ess”

T - “Teh”

U - “Ouh”

V - “Vih”

W - “Wuh”/“Vuh”

X - “Ks”

Y - “Ieh (short)”

Z - “Zed”

French syllables

Ai - “Eih”

An - “Aw (almost)”

Ch - “Shh”

En - “Aw (almost)

In - “Eh”

Ou - “Ooo”

Er - “Eih”

Oi - “Wah”

On - more of a nasally noise

Gn - “Ñ”

Ph - “Fuh”

Qu - “Kuh”

Ill - “Iye”

The C rule

  • If there's a vowel, C is pronounced “Kuh”, unless it's a c-cédille (Ç); then proceed as normal

    • Ex: façade

The E rule

  • E changes the context of certain letters if at the end of a word, or can make a word feminine (not always)

    • Ex: mont/monte (“Mon” vs “Mont” [this is not the feminine version of the word])

Exceptions to letters

  • É and é make “ieh” sound, È and è make “eh” sound

  • G makes a soft g sound if it comes before E

    • Ex: gorge

  • H is silent unless it's combined with another letter

    • Ex: Sh, Ch

  • I makes “wah” sound when combined with O

  • N usually isn't pronounced

  • O makes an “ooo” sound when combined with U and a “wah” sound when combined with I

Pronouns

Je/moi - I/me

Tu/toi - you/you (familiar, informal)

Il/lui - he/him

Consonant-Vowel and Vowel-Vowel connections