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How to Pronounce Letters in French

Like the English alphabet, the French alphabet is composed of 26 letters but of course they are pronounced differently. Below, you can find some tips to help you pronounce each letter.  Very useful if you have to spell your name in French.

The vowels A, E, I, O, U when combined with other vowels or with some consonants are pronounced differently.

Use the audio below to help you imitate the pronunciation.

 

LETTERPRONUNCIATIONTIPSCombination with other letters
AAHIt is an ‚open vowel so You will need to open your mouth to make it sound more French!AI
AU
AN/AM (nasal sound)
BIt sounds like 'Big' but without pronouncing 'g'
Csounds like 'Sick' but without pronouncing 'ck'
Dsounds like 'Dig' but without pronouncing 'g'
EUHYour lips should be well rounded and mid-closedEI
Your tongue is at the frontEU
EN/EM (nasal sound)
FEF
Gsounds like the french "j'ai" but less open
HASH
IEEDraw the corners of your lips back as if you were going to smileIN/IM (nasal sound)
JJEE
KKAHOpen your mouth !
LEHL
MEHM
NEHN
OOHOI
OU
ON/OM (nasal sound)
Psounds like 'Pig' but without 'g'
QKEW
REHRThe French 'R' is pronounced in the throat. Your tongue should be blocked behind your teeth in order to let the sound comes out. If you cannot keep your tongue down put a spoon on your tongue to avoid it to go up! Be careful of course but try to practice this every day in front of a mirror! Then you must add vowels a-o-i-u
SES
Tsounds like 'Tip' but without 'p'
UEWYour lips are well rounded and pushed as far out as you can.UN/UM (nasal sound)
The tip of your tongue is right at the front against the teeth.
Vsounds like "Vic" but without "c"
WDOOBLUHVéIt is a double V (Look at the way it is written W)
XEEX
YEEGREK
ZZEHD

2 Comments

  1. Richard

    Very good explanation on the alphabet pronunciations! I’ve been doing it wrong all this time… 🙂

    1. Françoise Giordano

      Thank you Richard! I’m really glad you like it and that it helps you pronouncing the alphabet a little bit better! 🙂

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