L’alphabet français
Bonjour tout le monde!!! Let’s get familiar with all the 26 letters of the
French alphabet. Mastering the pronunciation of the letters [les lettres in
French] along with the forms they take in different words is always a
challenge for every beginner- their sounds individually as well as how
they are pronounced in a word, in combinations. This is the most
important aspect in the beginning that needs careful listening, practice
and patience to master. One must give attention to pronunciation right
from the start. Otherwise, it becomes complicated in the later part. C’est
parti!!!!! [here we go!!!]
Aa ami (e)/ Asie/ acteur/ aube/ âne/ cinéma
friend / Asia / actor (male) / dawn / donkey / cinema
Bb belle / bravo! / bon / table/ bateau/ bavard
beautiful/ bravo/ good; right/ table/ boat/ talkative
Cc
C followed by vowels e/i/y has a soft sound [s], like---
cinéma, citron, ce, cerf, cygne, cyclone.
lemon/ this or that; it/ stag/ swan/ cyclone
C followed by vowels a/o/u has a hard sound [k],
like---- café, cahier, calme, comique, col, cuir, cultivé
coffee, cafeteria/ notebook/ calm, quiet/ comic; funny/ collar (of garments)/
leather/ cultured or educated
C followed by h has a sound [sh], like---- chameau,
château, chat, chien, chou. But before r- chrétien [kr]
Camel/ castle/ cat/ dog/ cabbage/ Christian
D d dans/ de/ cadeau/ demain/ madame
in; inside/ of, from/ gift/ tomorrow/ madam, Mrs- greeting a married woman
Ee
The letter e [without accent] at the end of a word is
silent.
salle/ ville/ vie/ homme/ fille/ cire/ lire
room/ city, town/ life/ man/ girl; daughter/wax/ to read (verb)
é: accent aigu/ è: accent grave/ ê: accent circonflexe/ ë: le
tréma
These are the four accents that one finds with the
vowel e. These accents can also be with other vowels
[a, i, o and u] but, usually, in such cases the sound of
the vowel is not changed. Like- [ou] which means or in
English and [où] which means where (question word)
in English.
Accent aigu- étudiant/ café/ cinéma/ école/ bébé/ thé
Student (male) school baby tea
Accent grave- père/ mère/ mètre/ sèche/ crème/ élève
father/ mother/ metre/ dry/ cream/ pupil,student
Accent tréma - Noël/ canoë
Christmas/ canoe (a shallow narrow boat
propelled with a paddle) Accent circonflexe
ê produces the
Accent circonflexe - pêche/ même same sound as è
peach/ same (can be adjective,
adverb and pronoun)
F f faux/ fort/ facile/ cafard/ affable/ France
false/ strong/ easy/ cockroach/ affable, agreeable, gentle/ France
Gg
The letter g followed by vowels e/i has a soft sound,
like—girafe, gilet, genou, manger, nager….
Giraffe/ cardigan/ knee/ to eat/ to swim (verbs)
The letter g followed by vowels a/o/u has a hard sound,
like in English word ‘GO’----- gorge/ garage/ galerie/
guitare/ guide/ garcon
throat/ garage/ gallery/ guitar/ guide/ boy
H h this letter is silent in French. It is sometimes
treated as a vowel and sometimes as a consonant. But
it is never pronounced. H muet – when it is a vowel. H
aspiré --- when it is a consonant.
homme/ hôtel/ hibou/ habiter/ homard / cahier/ hiver
Hotel/ owl/ to live (verb) / lobster/ notebook, exercise book/ winter
I i cinéma/ ville/ vie/ billet/ isolé
ticket/ isolated
Jj jambe/ jardin/ Japon/ jaune/ jaloux
Leg/ garden/ Japan/ yellow/ jealous
K k kilomètre/ kangourou
kilometre / kangaroo
L l loup/ loupe/ lourd/ lapin/ ballon
wolf/ magnifying glass/ heavy/ rabbit/ ball
M m main/ matin/ pomme/ ami(e)/ madame
Hand/ morning/ apple
N n nuit/ nuage/ nous/ navire/ canne
Night/ cloud/ we- subject pronoun; also object pronoun/ ship/
stick (like- walking stick)
Oo
Pronounced like the English word NOT --- objet/
poste/ gorge/ possible/ col/ hôpital/ homme/ obstiné/
école
Object (thing)/ post office/ possible/hospital/
stubborn, obstinate
When the consonant after this vowel is silent it has a
complete pronunciation just like the sound of the letter
itself. ------ gros/ dos/argot big, large, fat/back/ slang
The sound of the vowel combination ‘oi’ is wa, like---
oiseau/ bois/ roi/ danois/oie bird/ wood/ king/ Danish/ goose
The sound of the vowel combination ‘ou’, like---
rouge/ sous/ douce/ joujou/pour
Red/ under/ soft, sweet, pleasent/ toy/ for- the blue highlighted
words are two very common prepositions
P p parler/ peau/ porte/ poisson
to speak, to talk (verb)/ skin/ door/ fish
Q q quoi/ quartier/quart/quand
what (interrogative pronoun)/ locality, area/ quarter (fraction)/ when
(conjunction; interrogative adverb)
R r garçon/ rue/ rouge/argent/ sortie road/ money/ exit
La cédille- ç, this accent is only used with the consonant c to
maintain the soft [s] sound of the consonant.
Ss
It has two different sounds- [s] and [z] that depends on
its position in a word. When s comes between two
vowels in a word like- saison/ maison/ raison/paisible it
sounds z. But with double s it becomes [s], like-
poisson/ boisson.
salle/ bus/ passeport/ sans/ sur/ russe
Season/ house/ reason/ peaceful/ beverage/ bus/ passport/ without/ on/ Russian
T t tasse/ trou/ tante/ tôt/ tortue
Cup/ hole/ aunt/ early (adverb)/ tortoise
U u université/ réunion/ nuit/ sur
College, university/ meeting (official), reunion/ night/ on-
preposition, like- on the table (on top of)
V v vélo/ vide/ vrai/ avare/ avenir
bicycle/ empty/ true/ miser, miserly/ future
W w week-end/ wagon/ whisky
Weekend/ carriage, wagon/ whisky
X x xylophone [x: ks] xylophone- a musical instrument
Y y yugoslavie/ yaourt/y Yugoslavia/ yoghurt/ it is a pronoun
Z z zèbre/ zéro/ zoologiste Zebra/ zero/ zoologist
Apart from the meanings given above, the words can
have other meanings, usages and expressions and may
vary according to the context. But, here the very basic
meanings (translations) are given.
