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French
Alphabet and Pronunciation of French Language |
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The French alphabet is exactly the same as the English alphabet, except the
letters are pronounced differently. Following are the approximate French
pronunciations for each letter. For related topics, please click on
French Language.
| Letter |
Pronouncation |
Letter |
Pronuncation |
| A |
ah |
N |
en |
| B |
bay |
O |
op |
| C |
say |
P |
pay |
| D |
day |
Q |
koo |
| E |
uk |
R |
ehr |
| F |
ef |
S |
es |
| G |
ghay |
T |
tay |
| H |
ash |
U |
oo |
| I |
ee |
V |
vay |
| J |
jhay |
W |
doo-blaw-vay |
| K |
ka |
X |
ex |
| L |
el |
Y |
ee-grek |
| M |
em |
Z |
zed |
Some of the individual letters can have
accents, which change the way they are pronounced. Following are the different
versions: â, ç, é, è, ê, î, ï. These are not different or additional letters,
they are merely letters with accents.
The letter H is not pronounced, or to be more
accurate, is pronounced very lightly.
The pronunciation of letters is also affected
by their position. If the last letter of a word is a consonants, it is not
pronounced unless:
-
the first letter of the next work is a
vowel, or
-
the consonant is a C, F, L, or R.
These four consonants are pronounced even if they are at the end of a word.
The way to remember this is to remember the word "careful", which has the
same four consonants.
The French phrase for "How is that spelled?" is
"Comment ça s'écrit?".
For words with more than one syllable, the
stress is always on the last syllable. If you can practice this, your French
will be much better understood.
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