In this lesson, we are going to learn the French Alphabet and how it is pronounced.
The French alphabet is known as the Roman Alphabet. It has 26 letters.
Learning pronunciations is essential to pronounce words and to learn how to spell.
French Alphabet & Pronunciation
Alphabet
Sounds
Prononciation examples for English speakers
Example
Pronunciation
(sound file)
A
/ɑ/
a like in "Arm"
Avion
B
/be/
b like in "Best"
Bateau
C
/se/
S like in "Sad" before i,e,y
or k like in "crocodile" elsewhere
or SH in "she" before h
Ceci
Camion
Chat
Ç
/se/
S like in "Stop"
Français
D
/de/
d like in "Do"
The letter "d" is pronounced "t" at the end of the word in French:
For example: "un grand éléphant" (a large elephant) is pronounced "un grand(t) éléphant".
Other example: "Quand il y a" (when there is) is pronunced "Quand(t) il y a"
Dormir
Un grand éléphant
Quand il y a
E
/ø/
e like in "Elephant"
Voiture
F
/ɛf/
f like in "Fire"
Feu
G
/ʒe/
g like in "Gym" before i,e,y
or g like "golf" elsewhere
Nuage
Garage
H
/aʃ/
Silent
Hibou
I
/i/
i like in "Italy
Vivre
J
/ʒi/
j like "Jim"
Je
K
/ka/
k like in "Ko"
Kiwi
L
/ɛl/
l like in "Lion"
Lion
M
/ɛm/
m like in "Men"
Manger
N
/ɛn/
n like in "New"
Nager
O
/o/
o like in "Open"
o like in "Do you know?"
Olive
Ouvrir
P
/pe/
p like in "Pay"
Partir
Q
/ky/
q like in "Quit"
Qui es-tu?
R
/ɛʁ/
r like in "rome"
Renard
S
/ɛs/
s like in "See"
or z like in "dose" after a,e,i,o,u and before e,i
Sortir
Valise
T
/te/
t like in "Tall"
Voiture
U
/y/
u like in "Urgent"
C'est urgent!
V
/ve/
v like in "View"
Vivre
W
/dubləve/
w like in "Want"
Kiwi
X
/iks/
x like in "Wax"
Taxi
Y
/iɡʁɛk/
y like in "Year"
Yoyo
Z
/zɛd/
z like in "Zoo"
Le Zoo
Œ
/ø/
o like in "Oops"
Un œuf
â
a like in "Apple"
Quel âge as-tu?
é
e like in "Elephant"
Un éléphant
è, ê, ë
ea like in "head"
la tête
Après
Noël
î
i like in "live"
Une île
ô
o like in "only"
tôt
û
u like in "urgent"
il fût
French Accents
French uses several accents which are worth understanding. These are: à, è, ù, (grave accents) and é (acute accent) which only applies to e. A circumflex applies to all vowels as well: â, ê, î, ô, û. And also a tréma (French for diaerasis) for vowels: ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ and combined letters: æ and oe.
