This document provides an overview of key French sounds and spellings. It begins by introducing vowels and some tricky consonants. It then covers nasal phonemes, regular graphemes like ou and au, and graphemes that can have multiple sounds like ch. The document also discusses silent letters and the rules of elision and liaison when words are joined together. In under 3 sentences, it summarizes the main phonetic elements of French covered in the text.
1. KEY FRENCH SOUNDS & SPELLINGS
(A VERY GENERAL & SIMPLIFIED
REFERENCE)
Prior learning: Following on from the
alphabet!
Jo Rhys-Jones, November 2011
Talkabout Primary Languages
2. TABLE OF CONTENTS:
vowels
tricky consonants
nasal phonemes on/an/en, in/ain/ein
regular graphemes ou, au/eau, gn, ph
graphemes which make more than one
sound
silent letters
elision & liaison
9. o - SAME SOUND MADE BY
O O – CAN ALSO BE A SHORT
Ô/AU/EAU SOUND
piano carotte
vélo, pot, hôtel, pomme, bol,
beau, chaud docteur
10. U
Put your finger in your
mouth like a lollipop.
u
Remove your finger
but keep your lips still.
Without moving your
lips, try to say ‘ee’
That is the French
sound ‘u’.
sucette
12. c SOFT WHEN FOLLOWED BY E
OR I
USUALLY A HARD SOUND same sound as ç
cinéma
carotte
police, France, cent,
crayon, sac, café, cinq, délicieux,
banc, caméra... garçon...
13. g SOFT WHEN FOLLOWED BY E
USUALLY A HARD SOUND OR I
gorille garage
gomme, guitare, pigeon, orange, genou,
catalogue, regarder... girafe,
15. s HARD WHEN BETWEEN 2
USUALLY A SOFT SOUND VOWELS
poisson oiseau
sac, soupe, cuisine, visite,
classe, danser... rose, musique, chemise
16. t
USUALLY THE SAME
EXCEPTIONS – CAN CHANGE
TO S SOUND WHEN
SOUND AS IN ENGLISH FOLLOWED BY I
tomate dictionnaire
tulipe, tarte, direction, addition,
moto, minute... patience, essentiel…
Do these words make a
normal t sound in
17. W IS ONLY USED IN WORDS THAT
ARE BORROWED FROM OTHER
LANGUAGES
w
- MAKES THE SAME SOUND AS IN ENGLISH
kiwi wagon
EXCEPT:
le wc
18. y BUT SAME SOUND AS IN
USUALLY SAME SOUND
ENGLISH WHEN BETWEEN 2
AS FRENCH I
VOWELS
stylo crayon
Yvonne, cycliste, Nancy joyeux, loyal,
lycée, pyjama... incroyable, voyage…
19. NASAL PHONEMES, :
on/an/en
Purists will rightly argue there is a very subtle difference between on and an/en
but it’s highly unlikely to be noticable up to GCSE level so I leave that to teacher
discretion and the level of your class…
in/ain/ein
20. ON/AN/EN: ALSO
OM/AM/EM
bonjour
on danse om
an dentiste
tombola lampe
am
en chambre
décembre
em
mouton enfants
21. IN/AIN/EIN: ALSO
IM
vin
in intelligent
ain train
demain
lapin
im
ein peinture
important
pain ceinture
32. ch BUT HARD SOUND WHEN A
USUALLY A SOFT
GREEK WORD – OFTEN
SOUND:
BEFORE R OR L
Chef Chrétien
Charlotte, marché, chat orchestre, chœur,
champagne, chocolat... chronique, technique…
33. ill SOME EXCEPTIONS WHEN
USUALLY A SOFTENED
THE L SOUND IS
SOUND:
PRONOUNCED:
Famille Million
fille, vanille, gorille village, ville, mille
gentille, habiller… tranquille
34. AIL/EIL/EUIL/OUIL: MAKE SIMILAR Y SOUND
AT THE
END
abeille
ail
eil travail bouteille
euil soleil
feuille
ouil nouille
médaille
bouillir
35. Silent letters
USUALLY THE FINAL BUT THE LETTERS B C F K L
CONSONANT IS NOT Q R USUALLY ARE
PRONOUNCED: PRONOUNCED:
mouton club
éléphant, lit, lapin snob, flic, chef, anorak
trois, froid, abricot… avril, cinq, hiver
Exceptions: ours, sud, autobus, tennis, Exceptions: blanc, porc, clef, -er infinitives
some names,
36. ELISION/LIAISON:
when a word that ends in a normally silent consonant is
followed by a word that begins with a vowel or silent h, then
the consonant is pronounced – usually...
petit le petit éléphant
Editor's Notes
Ican not includeevery exception here, sojust the mostcommon.