PRONONCIATIONS DU FRANÇAIS

Alphabet Phonétique
Combinaisons De Lettres Exemples
International
VOYELLES
Voyelles Orale

a, à, â /ɑ/ sa, là, pâte

ai /ɛ/ j’ai, mais

eau, auto, jaune, aux,

eau, au, aux /o/
bateaux

é, er, ez, es, et pré, parler, parlez, mes,

/e/
(closed e) et
è, ê, e followed by double
consonants and final -et chèvre, tête, belle,
/ɛ/
appelle, effet
(open e)

e in one-syllable words, le, que, de, peu, œufs,

/ø/
and in eu, œu (cf. œufs) bleu

chanteur, leur, sœur,

œuf, œuvre, heure When
followed by r or another
eur, œu, œur /œ/
sounded consonant, this is
a more “open” version of
the sound /ø /.

i, î, and y as a pronoun /i/ cri, fil, ils, île, il y a

Pronounced [il] only in

ville, village, mille,
million, and tranquiller.
ill (with double ll) /il/
Otherwise the ill
combination contains a
semi-vowel.

Final o, o before s, and ô vélo, zoo, roses, hôtel,

/o/
(closed o) môme
o before consonants(not s)
/ɔ/ bonne, monnaie, homme
(open o)

ou, où, oû /u/ sou, où, où goûtez, foule

port, accord, sorbet,

or /ɔ/
ordre

u (single u), û /y/ tu, rue, jupe, flûte

Voyelles Nasales

dans, lampe, trente,

an, am, en, em /ɑ̃/
exemple

bien, matin, vingt,

en, in, ym, im, yn, ain,
/ɛ/̃ sympathique, train, faim,
aim, ein
plein
 bonbon, son, combien,
on, om /ɔ/̃
fondation

un, um, aun /œ̃/ un, jungle

Semi-Voyelles

fille, famille, travail,

ill, ail, eil /ij/, /aj/, /ɛj/ Marseille

bien, science, voyage,

ie, i, and y (not fi nal) /j/ nation, croyez

moi, quoi, revoir, fois,

oi, ua /wa/ guano

huit, fruit, muet, suave

This semi-vowel contains
ui, ue, ua /ɥ/ the single u sound /y/ .(See
Vowels section for
pronunciation of /y/).
CONSONNES
Many French consonant sounds (for example: b, c, d, f, k, l, m, n, p, t, v, z) closely
resemble their English counterparts.
Pronounce the consonants forward in your mouth, and always try to avoid making
plosive sounds (puffs of air), particularly with b, p, and t.
Here are several consonant sounds specifi c to French. Some variants are the same as
in English (for example, “hard” c [k], “hard” g [g], and qu [k]. Sounds not listed here
are pronounced nearly like English.

c, cc before a, o, u, or a court, chacun, accord,

/k/
consonant classe

c before i, e, y, and the merci, cercle, cyclisme,

/s/
letter ç François

/ʃ/
ch chose, machine

g before a, o, u, or a
/ɡ/ glace, gare
consonant

g before e, i, y /ʒ/ Georges, gigot

j /ʒ/ bonjour, joli, jardin

gn /ɲ/ montagne, peigner

The letter h is always

silent in French. Some
words starting with h
don’t elide articles or
h _
pronouns (examples: le
héros,
le hasard).

quelquefois, cinq
qu, q /k/

riche, bizarre, original

The French r (as in
bonjour, Robert) is
r, rr /ʁ/ normally pronounced at
the back of the throat,
with a slight gargling
sound

s, initial or double s, t salut, fausse, nation, six,

/s/
in -tion, final x dix

s between two vowels or in

/z/ demoiselle, excursion
-sion
th /t̪ / Thomas, thé

x before a consonant /ks/ excellent, expression

x before a vowel /ɡz/ examen, exemple