French Pronunciation Rules
Memorize these rules in order to apply them to new French
words. You should be able to read most words if you know
these 20 sounds.
1. et
=
long A
2. er
=
long A
3. é
4. ez
=
=
5. eau
6. au
long A
long A
=
=
7. aux
long O
long O
=
long O
8. h is silent
9. en, an, in, and on have nasalized sounds.
10. Qu
=
K
11. LL
=
Y
12. I
=
long E
13. ç
=
S
14. oi
=
wa
15. Consonants at the ends of words are silent except C,
R, F, and L.
16. è
=
short e (like the e in egg).
17. s
=
z (in the middle of the word)
18. ss
=
s (in the middle of the word)
19. Consonants at the end of words are silent except when
the next word starts with a vowel or H.
20. All syllables in French words are stressed the same.
The equals sign indicates “sounds like”.