Learning French means you learn French vocabulary and grammar. After all the exercises to master those aspects, it would be a shame if you sounded like a bad imitation of the Pink Panther's Inspector Clouseau. So, you must also master French pronunciation, but not only in your French conversation classes. You can start by practising French greetings and common phrases at turn, mindful of these pronunciation rules in French.
| 📏 Rule | 👨🏭 How to apply it | 🔎 The rule in action |
|---|---|---|
| Lack of syllable or tonal stress | Practise with tongue twisters. | Est-ce que les chaussettes de l’archiduchesse sont sèches? |
| Vowels generally keep their sound (lack of dipthongs) | Applies to a, i, o, u | The 'a' sound (ah) is the same in 'chat' as in 'armoire'. The 'i' sound (ee) is the same in 'ici' as it is in 'eglise'. |
| The vowel E has its own rules | Sounds like 'uh' Sounds like 'eh' | when between 2 consonants, when paired with 'u' (eu), in articles and pronouns. One-syllable words, before consonant pairs, at the start of words, with an accent aigu. |
| Big Six silent consonants | D, P, S, T, X, Z: when at the end of words, these consonants are not pronounced. | depend = deh-pan loup = loo je vais = zhe vay petit = puh-tee nez = nay |
| Silent H | H at the start of words is silent | hôpital' = oh pee tahl hôtel = oh tel |
| Final consonants always pronounced | C, R, L, and F | clerc = k lair k masseur = mass uh r journal = zhoor nahl chef = sh eff |
| Linking sounds | Connect consonant ends with vowel beginnings. Stretch consonant sounds to the next word. | Comment allez-vous? = koh mahn talleh voo. Aller a l'ecole = alleh ya lay cole |
Pronunciation Challenges in French
The lack of syllable stress in French is one of this language's most remarkable aspects. In English we often distinguish nouns from verbs by syllable stress. For instance:
Stress for Nouns
- EXport
- REcord
- PREsent
- PERmit
- CONflict
- PROtest
Stress for Verbs
- exPORT
- reCORD
- preSENT
- perMIT
- conFLICT
- proTEST
Also, we use stress and tone to give our sentences meaning. We don't know what "I didn't steal that book" is trying to say unless we stress the critical words. For example, stressing 'I' suggests someone else stole the book. By contrast, stressing 'that' implies 'I' stole a different book.
French speakers use stress only to add emotional context. "BONjour Madame!" suggests a cheerful meeting, while "bonJOUR Madame!" is a call to pay attention to the speaker. Otherwise, standard speech generally involves little stress1, as this clip demonstrates. This is an aspect of French pronunciation that native English speakers find particularly challenging to master.
Vowels: Simple Vowel Sounds
Vowels are the bane of English speakers trying to learn a second language. That's because few English vowels are 'pure'. Most English variations don't have just one sound within a vowel but several. Linguists call these diphthongs.
By contrast, the French language has very few diphthongs2. They are easy to spot, usually written with two letters (see below). As a British or American English speaker, you will need to shorten your vowel sounds to make them purer when you speak French.
A pronunciation Key for Standard French Vowels:
| French Word | Phonetic Explanation | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| A (as in "chat") | Similar to the A sound in “cat” | |
| I (as in "fini") | Same as the English letter E, or ee as in “seed” | |
| O (as in "porte") | Like in “location” | |
| U (as in "lune") | Like the German Ü, “you” | |
| Y (as in "style") | The Y sound in yellow, not in spy; or an “ee” sound if followed by a consonant |
The Variations of the Vowel E
When taking French courses, beginners often get confused by how the French pronounce the letter E. In many cases, it sounds like 'uh', as in these instances.
As in English, so too in French: this vowel does a lot of heavy lifting, taking on many sounds. The letter E sounds like 'eh' in these instances.
When at the end of words, you should barely pronounce the E. It's kind of like letting the word fade out rather than ending abruptly. This applies to standard French; there are French regional accents where it is spoken more strongly, like an "eu".
Learning to speak French properly can open doors to new opportunities; finding the right French lessons is crucial. No doubt you will find vowel pronunciation a hot topic in your lessons.
Silent Letters in French
Wouldn't it be great if there were no such thing as silent letters? Unfortunately, they are as prevalent in French as they are in English. The problem of silent letters in French is made more complex due to grammatical gendering.
In French the word 'chat' describes male cats and cats in general.
The end 'T' is silent (the word is pronounced shah).
Female cats are 'chattes' (chatte in the singular).
The 'E' ending indicates that 'T' must be pronounced.
In English, we tend to pronounce the 'H' at the start of words: 'herbs', 'hospital', and 'hotels'. In French, that 'H' is silent: 'herbes' (air-buh), 'hôpital' (oh-pee-tahl), and 'hôtel' (oh-tel). The letter 'H' should be one of French's 'Big Six' silent consonants.
D, P, S, T, X, Z are silent consonants in French.
'Ca dépend' - the final D is silent.
'Champ' - the final P is silent.
'Marais' - the final S is silent.
'Petit' - the final T is silent.
'Nez' - the final Z is silent.
The case for silent X: only for plurals that end in X (chevaux, chateaux, animaux).
In fact, most consonants at the end of words aren't pronounced, with C, R, L, and F being notable exceptions. These are typically always pronounced. Now, take a break and sing along with this kids' song, which presents all the pronunciation aspects discussed so far, and ones we've yet to mentioned.
Linking Sounds in French
For French to sound as fluent as it does in the clip above, connecting words is essential. This shouldn't be much of a stretch for English speakers as we commonly do the same thing.
A consonant ending + a vowel beginning = liaison Les amis becomes 'leh zamee'.
Likewise, elision - dropping a letter sound to connect two words - happens just as much in French as in English. For instance, the average English speaker drops two sounds from 'wouldn't', saying 'woo-nt'. In French, this practice is most obvious when using negation.
- Je ne aime pas manger.
- Ce ne est pas le mien.
- Je n'aime pas manger.
- Ce n'est pas le mien.
Again, in English as in French: when you see the apostrophe that denotes contraction, count that word as an elision. Other examples in French include:
- que (il)
- de (elle)
- lorsque (ils)
- puisque (elles)
- jusque (au)
- qu’ il (keel)
- d’elle (dell)
- lorsqu’ils (lors keel)
- puisqu’elles (pü ees kell)
- jusqu'au (zhüs oh)
Basic French Words With Pronunciation: Greetings and Polite Expressions
As mentioned in this article's introduction, as you learn French, practising your pronunciation with greetings is a great way to improve. You might already know these from your classes3.
| 👋 French greeting | 🔊 Phonetic Explanation | 📼 Audio |
|---|---|---|
| bonjour | bohn-zhoor | |
| bonsoir | bohn-swahr | |
| salut! | sahl-üh! | |
| ça va bien? | sah vah be-ain? | |
| comment-allez vous? | come ont ahl aye voo? |
Courtesy Phrases in French
I still remember from my school days in France an old joke about a pastor's son named Politesse (Politeness) doing something unbecoming behind the church. Not that the joke is particularly funny; I only mention it to emphasise how integral courtesy is to French culture. That being the case, anyone taking French lessons online or in person must master these phrases.
| 🙏French phrase | 🔊 Phonetic Explanation | 📖 What it means | 📼 Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| s'il vous plait s'il te plait | seal voo play seal tuh play | please (formal) please (informal) | |
| merci merci bien merci beaucoup | m-air see m-air see be-ain m-air see beau coo | thank you thank you kindly thank you very much | |
| de rien | duh ree ain | you're welcome | |
| il n'y a pas de quoi | eel knee ah pah duh kwah | don't worry about it | |
| puis-je vous aider? | p-weezh voos ay-day? | can I help you? |
French Pronunciation of Numbers
Whether speaking the Quebec dialect or the French spoken from Paris to Marseille, this language has a distinctly nasal quality to it. You can feel it when you say words that include the 'on' combination, for example. Starting with on (we), the list includes son (sound), rond (round) and paillasson (doormat).
But you needn't go around saying 'on' all day. More specifically, you shouldn't limit yourself to practising 'on'; you have an entire catalogue of numbers to develop this language's nasal aspects.
Pronouncing Time Words in French
During your French courses London (or wherever you are based), you will learn early how to identify the days of the week and the months of the year. In the course of those lessons, you might notice two obvious patterns.
The days of the weeks all end in -di, except for Sunday (dimanche).
The months’ names look nearly the same as in English.
Let’s consider those two facts to be teasers as we dive into the pronunciation of this category of French words4.
Days of the Week
| 📆 Day | 🔊 How it sounds | 📖 What it means | 📼 Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| lundi | lun-dee | Monday | |
| mardi | mar-dee | Tuesday | |
| mercredi | m-air-creu-dee | Wednesday | |
| jeudi | zheu-dee | Thursday | |
| vendredi | von-dreu-dee | Friday | |
| samedi | sah-meu-dee | Saturday | |
| dimanche | dee-mohn-shh | Sunday |
Months of the Year
Did you know that nearly 30% of all English words come from the French language5? That being the case, it should come as no surprise that many common words in English are the same in French. That includes the months of the year.
| 📅 Months | 🔊 How it sounds | 📼 Audio |
|---|---|---|
| Janvier | zhahn vee aye | |
| Fevrier | feh vree aye | |
| Mars | mar ss | |
| Avril | av reel | |
| Mai | meh | |
| Juin | zhoo ain | |
| Juillet | zhoo ee aye | |
| Aout | oot | |
| Septembre | sept am br | |
| Octobre | oct oh br | |
| Novembre | no vahn br | |
| Decembre | deh sahn br |
To develop your authentic French accent, you must master the nasal quality certain letter combinations demand. And that's even as you remember which letters remain silent and which ones have special pronunciation rules. Fortunately, numbers, days of the week, and months of the year in French all help you hit those marks.
Tongue Twisters to Improve Your French Accent
Now, it's time for us to put into practice everything we've learned, both in your French lessons in class and from the points n this article. Virelangues - tongue twisters in French, are a fun way to build fluency6.
Tongue twisters rely on repeating, alternating sounds to help the speaker pronounce words clearly. They're great to help you gain confidence in your speaking skills, too!
Seize chaises sèches
Let's start with this easy virelangue. These sixteen dry chairs exercise changes in vowel pronunciation. Try saying it: 'says shez seh-sh'.
Son chat chante sa chanson
This virelangue, meaning 'his cat sings its song', exercises the play between 's' and 'sh' sounds. Whether the man's cat is any good at singing its song is a mystery, but it probably stopped with our next phrase.
Cinq chiens chassent six chats
Five dogs chasing six cats must have been a sight to see! This sentence also works the French S-sounds but the next ones will challenge your ability to pronounce the French R.
Le ver vert va vers le verre vert
This sentence, about the green worm going towards the green glass, isn't much of a tongue twister, is it? However, it's great practice for the French R-sound. But this one, un généreux déjeuner regénérerait des généraux dégénérés, is much more of a workout. It translates to "A generous lunch regenerates degenerated generals."
Whether a generous lunch can regenerate degenerate generals is hard to say, both in fact and from a pronunciation perspective. That tongue twister proves we've wandered into the 'tough' category, so we leave things here, adding two more virelangues for you to practise in this summary table.
Note that honing your pronunciation, especially with rapid-fire virelangues, will help you sound more authentic when you begin using French slang.
| French Phrase | English Meaning | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| Seize chaises sèches | Sixteen dry chairs | |
| Son chat chante sa chanson | His cat sings its song | |
| Cinq chiens chassent six chats | Five dogs chasing six cats | |
| Le ver vert va vers le verre vert | The green worm goes towards the green glass | |
| Un généreux déjeuner regénérerait des généraux dégénérés | A generous lunch would regenerate degenerated generals | |
| Si ton tonton tond mon tonton | If your uncle mows my uncle | |
| Est-ce que les chaussettes de l’archiduchesse sont sèches? | Are the archduchess' socks dry? |
How to Pronounce Words in French: Further Resources
- lkl. “French Rhythm - Lawless French Pronunciation Lesson.” Lawless French, 15 Apr. 2021, www.lawlessfrench.com/pronunciation/rhythm/. Accessed 4 May 2026.
- “The Only French Pronunciation Guide You’ll Ever Need.” FrenchPod101, 2024, www.frenchpod101.com/french-pronunciation/. Accessed 4 May 2026.
- “French Greetings.” Lingvist, lingvist.com/course/learn-french-online/resources/french-greetings/. Accessed 4 May 2026.
- “Dates, Days & Months in French.” Lingolia.com, 2026, francais.lingolia.com/en/vocabulary/numbers-dates-time/dates-days-months. Accessed 4 May 2026.
- Simons, Andreas. “The English Language Is a Lot More French than We Thought, Here’s Why.” Medium, Medium, 13 Apr. 2017, medium.com/@andreas_simons/the-english-language-is-a-lot-more-french-than-we-thought-heres-why-4db2db3542b3. Accessed 4 May 2026.
- Talkinfrench. “Challenge Yourself with These Fun French Tongue Twisters.” Talk in French, 5 May 2021, www.talkinfrench.com/french-tongue-twisters/. Accessed 4 May 2026.
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