French Alphabet and French Reading Rules

The French alphabet is the most important building material for learning french. In this article, we will look at the French alphabet and the basic rules for reading and pronouncing words in French..

french alphabet

French alphabet in a table with transcription

French alphabet, like english, comprises 26 letters:

Aa [a] Jj [Ʒ] Ss [s]
Bb [b] Kk [k] Tt [t]
Cc Ll [l] Whoah [y]
Dd [d] Mm [m] Vv [v]
Eh Nn [n] Ww [v]
Ff [f] Oh [o] Xx
Gg Pp [p] Yy [i]
Hh Qq Zz [z]
Ii [i] Rr [r]

Now let's talk about, how to pronounce every letter in french. Letters “a”, “e”, “i”, “o” and “u” – these are vowels, which are pronounced the same, as in English. However, there are also differences. For example, letter “e” pronounced like “e”, not how “and”.

General spellings in French letters “e” integer set: is, And, eh, It is. We'll deal with them later., at the initial stage, you will be able to read and pronounce the words, knowing that the letter “e” pronounced like “e”.

Knowledge of alphabet letters and sounds, which they represent, important not only for reading and writing French, but also for spelling.

French Reading Rules

When reading text in French, it is important to understand some basic pronunciation rules. They are listed below:

    1. Vowel sounds. French has five vowels: “a”, “e”, “i”, “o” and “u”. Everything is easy with them.:

    • Letter “a” pronounced like “a”, as in the word “card”.

    • Letter “e” pronounced like “e”, as in the word “This”.

    • Letter “i” pronounced like “and”, as in the word “movie”.

    • Letter “o” pronounced like “about”, as in the word “milk”.

    • Letter “u” pronounced like “i” in a word “muesli”. For example, the word cuvette (ditch) read [ditch], listen:

    1. Consonants. Further, need to know, how to pronounce consonants. Each letter has its own sound. For example:

    • Letters “b”, “d”, “f”, “k”, “m”, “n”, “p”, “s”, “t”, “v” pronounced like in English, so we won't stop here..

    • Letter “c” pronounced like “To” or “with”, depending on, what vowel follows it. If it is followed by a vowel “a”, “o” or “u”, then it is pronounced like “To”, as in the word “masquerade” (macscarad) - read as [masquerade]. What if it's followed by a vowel? “e”, “i” or “y”, then it is pronounced like “with”, as in the word “certificate” (certificate) - read [certificate].
    • Same, there is a special letter in french “ç”. She needs it for, to sound like [c] in cases, where there are no letters in the word “e”, “i”, “y”. For example in the word “boy” (boy) - read as [living room].

    • Letter “h” does not have its own sound and is not pronounced, but may affect the pronunciation of other sounds.

    • Letter “j” pronounced like “same”, as in the word “bonjour” (Hello) – pronounce [hello]etc.

    • Letter “g” in French it is pronounced like “Mr”, for example a word “garage”, which reads like [garage]. But when she stands before the letters “is”, “i” or “y”, then it is pronounced like “same”. For example, word “general” read [general], word “régime” – [mode].
    • Letter “l” pronounced softly – “l”, as in the word “table” (table) - pronounced like [table]. Repeat after the announcer:

    1. Beech combinations. French also has combinations of consonants and vowels.. Some of them are pronounced in a special way. For example:

    • Combination “ch” pronounced like “sh”, as in the word “сhance” (luck, luck) reads like [a chance].

    • Combination “ph” pronounced like “f”, as in the word “photo” (photo) – pronounced [photo]. Listen:

    • Combination “gn” pronounced like “is”, as in the word “mushrooms” (mushrooms) – pronounce [champignon]. Let's listen:

    • Combination “that” pronounced like “k”, as in the word “four” (four) - pronounce it [which].

    • Letter combinations “or” pronounced like “in”, as in the word “fork” (fork) – pronounce [buffet].

    • Combination “ai” and “no” are read as “e”, for example “flash” (lightning) – pronounce [eclairs].

    • Combination “hey” we will pronounce like a sound “wow”, for example “croissant” (croissant) – pronounce [croissant].

    • Let's pronounce the combination au and eau as “about”. For example “debauchery” pronounced like [goodbye]

    • eu combination, œu pronounce like a sound “or” as in the word “honey”, for example “fleur” (flower) – pronounce [fleur].

    • Combination “gu” - pronounce it like a sound “Mr”, for example “guitar” (guitar) – pronounce [guitar]. We listen:

    • Combination “ill” pronounce it like a sound “so”, for example “family” (family) – pronounce [fam]. We listen:

      But there is 3 exceptions: mille (thousand) pronounced [miles], ville (city) – [vil], calm (calm) pronounce [Tranquil].

    • Letter “y”. You will now understand why we placed it in the block after all other sound combinations.. To pronounce it correctly, must imagine, what a letter “y” decomposes into “i + i”. For example, voyage (journey) we will pronounce it like voi+iage – [voyage]. Listen and repeat:

3. french accent

Emphasis is ALWAYS on the last syllable. You can practice on your name. If your name is Masha – in French your name will sound Masha (except for the French equivalent of Marie, which is pronounced Mari).

Same with male names., like Nikita – in French the name will sound like Nikita. And in further examples, we will mark the stress on the last syllable with a capital letter on the letter (so you don't forget to put the right emphasis).

4.THINGS-THAT-SHOULD NOT-BE-SPOKEN

We must remember and accept that, that in French a lot of letters at the end of the word are not readable. Consonants s, t, d, z, x, p and g or their combinations at the end of the word are not read.

  • If a word starts with a letter “h”, she never reads. For example: a hospital (hospital) - pronounced like [opiAl].
  • Letter “t” at the end of the word is not readable.

5. famous nasal sound. nasal sounds

The rules for reading and pronouncing nasal French vowels have their own characteristics.. When you say a word with a nasal vowel, he sounds, like it's sinking into the nose, getting closer to the sound “n”, but never reaching it completely.

an, am, in, em are read as “añ” (here and below it means “n”, which is pronounced through the nose: ñ):

  • plan [plan]

  • champ [ʃañ]

These are just some of the main recommendations., which should help you become more familiar with the rules of reading in French. With practice and patience, over time, you will become easier to perceive materials., written in this language.

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