French Pronunciations III
Français 1A
Mme Wratten
Salle B54
Below are new pronunciation rules that will help you pronounce words
for friends and family members. Use your other pronunciation lists to
help!:
‘ç’ – sounds like ‘sssss’
‘ille’ – sounds like ‘yuh’
REMINDER:
‘h’ at the beginning of a word is SILENT
‘t’ at the END of a word is also SILENT
REMINDER: Here are the vowels and what they sound like in French:
‘A’ sounds like ‘ah!’
‘E’ sounds like ‘euh’
‘I’ sounds like ‘ee’ as in ‘eek!’
‘O’ sounds like ‘oh!’ (all surprised!)
‘U’ sounds like the beginning sound in ‘ewwww!’
Accents
“Accents” are the marks you see over some of the letters in words in
French. Here is some important information about them:
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Almost all accents go over vowels ONLY. There is one exception.
Accents are considered part of the spelling of a word.
Accents CAN change the sound of a letter.
Accents CAN change the meaning of a word!
Accents can go over ANY VOWEL in French.
And yes, IT MATTERS if you leave them off!
Here are the accents we use in French:
é = accent aigu (“aigu” means sharp … see how the accent points
up? Like a sharp needle!)
è = accent grave (It points down, like you’re digging into a grave!)
â = Accent circonflexe (think ‘cornflakes!)
ö = tréma
And here’s the only accent used with a consonant:
Ç = cédille (makes the ‘c’ sound like ‘sssssss’)
Facts about accents:
Accent aigu:
 Can go over any vowel.
 Only changes the sound of ‘e.’ Here’s how: ‘e’ = ‘euh’;
but ‘é’ = ‘eh’
Accent grave:
 Goes over any vowel.
 Doesn’t change the sound of any vowel.
 DOES change the meaning of some words!
EXAMPLE: ‘ou’ = ‘or’
‘où’ = ‘where’
Accent circonflexe:
 Goes over any vowel.
 Doesn’t change the sound of the vowel.
 DOES indicate that an ‘s’ used to follow the vowel it is
placed over.
EXAMPLE: ‘hôpital’ = ‘hospital’
Tréma:
 Goes over any vowel.
 DOES change the pronunciation of the word.
 When you see a ‘tréma,’ you must pronounce the vowel
independently of the other vowel(s) around it.
EXAMPLE: ‘mais’ = ‘may’
‘maïs’ = ‘mah-EESS’
Cédille:
 Only used with “c”
 Changes the “c” from a “kuh” sound to an “sssss” sound.