French Accent Marks

Whether you’re writing an essay for class or an email to a colleague, knowing and
using the appropriate French accent marks is essential for proper spelling in French.
Accent marks in French change the pronunciation and meaning of the word. To avoid
mistakes or confusion, be sure to choose the appropriate marks.

The Five French Accent Marks

There are five French accent marks. Four are used with vowels, and only one is used
with a consonant. The easiest way to know when to use an accent mark is by
memorizing the correct spelling of each word. It’s tedious, but necessary when
learning another language.

The chart below describes each mark and provides an example.

Chart of French Accent Marks

What It Looks Letters Used
Name of Mark Example
Like With
Only used with étudiant
Accent aigu or acute accent é
E (student)
Used with A, E,
Accent grave or grave accent à, è, ù où (where)
U
Accent circonflexe or accent
â, ê, î, ô,û A, E, I, O, U forêt (forest)
circumflex
Accent tréma or umlaut ë, ï,ü E, I, U naïve (naïve)
Only with letter
Cedille or cedilla ç garçon (boy)
C

Accents Used with Vowels

There are four accent marks used with vowels. These are the accent aigu, accent
grave, accent circonflexe, and accent tréma. Accents may change how a word is
pronounced or distinguish between two words that are spelled the same but have
different meanings.

Accent Aigu

The accent aigu may be the easiest for students to remember. It is marked as a line
over the letter E that points up and to the right. It can only be used with the letter E.
The accent changes the pronunciation of the vowel from an ‘ah’ sound to an ‘ay’
sound.

Some common words that use an accent aigu include:

 • l’école (school)
• étudier (to study)
• méchant (mean)

Accent Grave

Accent grave looks like accent aigu, but the line points up and to the left. An accent
grave may be used only with vowels A, E, and U. When the accent grave is used with
the letters A and U, it’s usually used to distinguish among two words that are spelled
the same but mean different things.

Some examples of words using the accent grave include:

• Austère (austere or stern)

• L’élève (student or pupil) – used both accent aigu over the first E and accent
grave over the second E
• Confrère (colleague)

An example of an accent grave used to distinguish between two words includes:

• Ou, a conjunction that means ‘or’ or ‘either’

• Où, meaning ‘where’

Accent Circonflexe

The accent circonflexe is one of the easiest to remember. Think of it like a little hat
sitting over a vowel. The accent circonflexe may appear over any vowel.

Use the accent circonflexe in such words as:

• Hôpital (hospital)
• Forêt (forest)
• Embûche (pitfall)

Note that many words in French that use an accent circonflexe once included the letter
S after the vowel. Words like hospital and forest transformed over time into the
shortened form above using the circonflexe instead of the letter S.

Accent Tréma

If the accent tréma looks familiar, it may be because you’ve seen it used in German. It
is also called an umlaut and appears only over the vowels E, I and U. This accent
indicates a pronunciation change. Whenever you see accent tréma, you must
pronounce each vowel separately.

Words using the accent trema include:

• Naïve (naïve, or innocent)

• Aïeul (male ancestor)
Accents Used With Consonants

There is only one French accent mark used with a consonant. This is another mark
that may look familiar if you’ve studied other Romance languages

. The accent cedille, also called a cedilla, is also found in Spanish words.

Accent Cedille

Accent cedille, or the cedilla, is also easy for most students to remember since it’s
only found under the letter C. The cedilla changes the pronunciation of the letter C
from a hard sound to a soft sound.

Look for accent cedille under such words as:

• Garçon (boy)
• Soupçon (French meaning – misgivings. American meaning – mix)

How to Type Accent Marks

Whether you’re on a Mac or a PC, there are several simple keyboard shortcuts to
typing proper French accent marks. There are also programs you can download that
will place the proper symbols into your word processing program.

McKinnon Secondary College provides a chart of keyboard shortcuts on their website

along with instructions for both Mac and PC users on how to call up and use the right
accent marks. There is also a link to a program called PopChar that you can purchase
to load French symbols into a word processing program. When using Microsoft
Word, the accent marks may be found by using the Insert Symbol function and
choosing the correct accent mark from the chart that appears on screen.

Guide to Pronouncing Words with Accent Marks

Since French accent marks sometimes change the pronunciation of French words,
students

may wish to consult a French pronunciation guide or take a free French Course to
understand, use and pronounce French accent marks correctly.