Language/French/Pronunciation/Liaisons

Let's talk about the French Liaisons.

In French phonetics, the liaison is the pronunciation of a final consonant immediately before a following word starting with a vowel.

There are 3 types of liaisons: mandatory optional and forbidden liaisons.

Here we describe only mandatory and prohibited Liaisons.

Mandatory Liaisons

The sign _ means "pronounce the liaison"

• Between a determinant and the word it determines: "les_amis", "quels_amis", "ces_amis", "les_uns et les_autres", "de bons_amis".
• Between a verb and its subject and object pronouns: "ils_ont", "les ont-ils", "nous_en_avons".
• With adverbs, prepositions and monosyllabic conjunctions: "en_avion", "très_intéressant", "quand_elle parle".
• With the auxiliary verb to be (although this is a very frequent rather than obligatory link): "il est_ici", "ils sont_arrivés".
• Between the words constituting certain fixed expressions: "tout_à l’heure", "quand-est-ce que", "tout_à coup", "de temps_en temps", "un sous-entendu", etc.

Prohibited Liaisons

They are at the border of two important rhythmic and syntactic groups.

In this logic, the liaison is not pronounced between, for example:

the sign % means "do not pronounce the Liaison"

• A nominal group and a verbal group: "les enfants % écoutent"
• A noun and an adjective postposed: "un étudiant % américain"
• After the proper names: "Jean % est parti"
• With conjunctions "et" and "ou" : "du pain % et % un bon fromage", "du pain % ou un croissant"
• After the interrogative adverbs : "Quand % est-il arrivé?", "Combien % en as-tu?"
• After the personal pronouns subject in an inversion : "will they arrive % ?"
• With the words beginning with an aspirated "h" (« h » aspiré): "un % héros", "en % haut"

Here are a few words starting with a « h » aspiré (do not pronounce the Liaison with them):

hache harem herse haie hareng hibou haine hargne hiéroglyphe haïr haricot hochet hall harnais hockey haleter harpe Hollande halle harpon homard halte hasard Hongrie halot hâte honte hamac hauban hoquet hameau hausse horde hampe haut houblon hamster hautain housse hanche hautbois hublot handicap Havane huis clos hangar havre huit hanneton hérisson hurler hanter hère hussard harceler héron hutte hardi héros hure

• In some frozen groups: "nez % à nez", "riz % au lait", "mort % ou vif"