Module I·Article I·~3 min read
Phonetics and Alphabet: How to Read in French
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Why Phonetics Matter
French is a language in which spelling and pronunciation often fundamentally diverge. The word "beaucoup" (a lot) consists of 8 letters, but is pronounced as [boký]. Therefore, from the very first lesson, it is important to learn the rules of reading, rather than trying to "guess" the pronunciation from the spelling.
The French Alphabet
The French alphabet consists of 26 Latin letters + 5 diacritical marks:
Accent aigu (´): é → pronounced as closed [e]: été (summer), café, allée
Accent grave (`): è → open [e]: père, mère, après; à (preposition "to/at"), où (where)
Accent circonflexe (^): ê → open [e], often historical s: forêt, fête, être. Also: â, î, ô, û
Cédille (¸): ç → before a, o, u pronounced as [s]: français, garçon, ça
Tréma (¨): ë, ï, ü → each vowel is pronounced separately: Noël, naïf
Key Pronunciation Rules
Nasal Vowels — The Main Feature of French
[ã] — an/am/en/em: France [frãns], pendant, temps, ambassadeur
[ɛ̃] — in/im/ain/aim/ein: international, important, pain, faim
[ɔ̃] — on/om: bon, son, nom, compte
[œ̃] — un/um: un, parfum (in modern French often merges with [ɛ̃])
Key rule: The vowel before n/m is nasal IF n/m is followed by a consonant or the end of the word. If a vowel or a second n/m follows n/m — there is no nasal sound.
- bon [bɔ̃] — nasal
- bonne [bɔn] — NOT nasal (nn before e)
- banque [bãk] — nasal
- banane [banan] — NOT nasal (n before a)
Liaison (Connecting Words)
One of the reasons why French sounds "fluid". The final consonant, usually "silent", is pronounced before a word beginning with a vowel:
- les amis [le-z-ami] — final s is pronounced
- vous avez [vu-z-avé] — final s is pronounced
- un enfant [ën-nãfã] — n is linked
Liaison is mandatory in the following positions:
- Article + noun: les enfants [lez-ãfã]
- Adjective + noun: petit ami [pti-t-ami]
- Pronoun + verb: nous avons [nu-z-avõ]
- Numeral + noun: deux ans [döz-ã]
Silent Final Consonants
Most final consonants in French are NOT pronounced:
- grand [grã] — d is silent
- vous [vu] — s is silent
- intelligent [yotelijã] — t and the first n are silent
- beaucoup [boký] — p is silent
Exceptions (CARAMEL): C, R, F, L at the end of a word are usually pronounced:
- lac [lak], mer [mèr], chef [shèf], sel [sèl]
Letter Combinations
eu/œu: [ø] closed (feu, peu) or [œ] open (heure, peur, cœur)
ou: always [u] — bonjour, vous, toujours
au/eau: always [o] — beau, château, aussi
ai/ei: [ɛ] — maison, faire, treize
oi: [ua] — moi, trois, avoir, voilà
ui: [ɥi] — nuit, fruit, je suis
gn: [ny] — montagne, gagner, cognac (like Italian "gn")
ch: [sh] — chat, château, recherche
j/ge: [zh] — je, bonjour, garage, rouge
Pronunciation Practice: French Words in Russian
You already know many French words! Compare their pronunciation:
- restaurant [restorã] — ресторан
- boulevard [bulvar] — бульвар
- entrepreneur [ãtrёprёnёр]
- bureau [büro] — бюро
- garage [garazh] — гараж
- chauffeur [shofyor] — шофёр
- détente [detã:t] — детанте
- prestige [prestizh] — престиж
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