To learn to read French, you need to know the rules of reading. them in French quite a lot, so you don’t need to try to learn all the rules at once. It is enough to periodically glance at the table during the process of learning and consolidating the material. The main thing is to remember that reading rules exist, which means that once you master them, you will be able to read any unfamiliar word. This is why the French language does not require transcription (except for rare phonetic cases).
Where to start?
Before you begin to get acquainted with the rules of reading, you first need to learn french alphabet and remember 5 basic rules:
- the stress ALWAYS falls on the last syllable of the word (examples: argent, festival, venir);
- the letters -s, -t, -d, -z, -x, -p, -g, e, c (and their combinations) are NOT READABLE in words if they appear at the end (examples: mais, agent, fond, nez, époux, morse, banc);
- the ending of verbs in the present tense “-ent” (3l. unit h) is never read (example: ils parlent);
- the letter “l” is always softened, reminiscent of the Russian [l];
- double consonants are read as one sound in French, for example: pomme.
In addition to the letters of the alphabet, letters with icons (superscript and subscript), presented below in the table, are used in writing.
Vowels and letter combinations in French
French vowels are pronounced according to clear rules of pronunciation, but there are many exceptions related to both analogy and the influence of neighboring sounds.
| Letter/Letter combination | Pronunciation of sound | Example |
| "oi" | semivowel [wa] | trois |
| "ui" | [ʮi] | huit [ʮit] |
| “ou”* | [u] | cour |
| “eau”, “au” | [o] | beaucoup,auto |
| “eu”, “œu”, as well as the letter e (in an open unstressed syllable) | [œ] / [ø] / [ǝ] | neuf, pneu, regarder |
| “è” and “ê” | [ɛ] | crème, tête |
| “é” | [e] | tele |
| "ai" and "ei" | [ɛ] | mais, beige |
| “y”* in the position between vowels forms | 2 "i" | royal (roi – ial = ) |
| “an, am, en, em” | nasal [ɑ̃] | enfant [ɑ̃fɑ̃], ensemble [ɑ̃sɑ̃bl] |
| “on, om” | nasal [ɔ̃] | bon, nom |
| “in, im, ein, aim, ain, yn, ym” | nasal [ɛ̃] | jardin [Ʒardɛ̃], important [ɛ̃portɑ̃], symphonie, copain |
| “un, um” | nasal [œ̃] | brun, parfum |
| "oin" | [wɛ̃] | coin |
| "ien" | [jɛ̃] | bien |
| “i” before a vowel and in combination with “il” after a vowel at the end of a word | [j] | miel, ail. |
| “ill”* | [j] – after a vowel – after a consonant | famille |
*If the letter combination “ou” is followed by a pronounced vowel, then the sound is read as [w]. For example, in the word jouer [Ʒwe].
*Located between consonants, the letter “y” is read as [i]. For example, in the word stylo.
*In a stream of speech, the fluent sound [ǝ] may be barely audible or completely dropped out of pronunciation. But there are also cases when a sound, on the contrary, can appear where it is not pronounced in an isolated word. Examples: acheter, les cheveux.
*Exceptions are the words tranquille, ville, mille, Lille, as well as their derivatives.
Correct pronunciation of consonants and letter combinations
| Letter/Letter combination | Pronunciation of sound | Example |
| “t”* | [s] before “i” + vowel [t] if “t” is preceded by “s” | national question |
| "s" | between vowels [z] [s] – in other cases | rose |
| "ss" | Always [s] | class |
| "x" | at the beginning of a word between vowels [ks] in other cases; [s] in cardinal numbers; [z] in ordinal numbers | exotique [ɛgzotik] Six, dix Sixième, dixième |
| “c”* | [s] before vowels “i, e, y” [k] – in other cases | cirque |
| “ç” | always [s] | garçon |
| "g" | [Ʒ] before vowels “i, e, y” [g] – in other cases | cage |
| "gu" | like 1 sound [g] before vowels | guerre |
| "gn" | [ɲ] (sounds like Russian [н]) | ligne |
| "ch" | [ʃ] (sounds like Russian [ш]) | chat [ʃa] |
| "ph" | [f] | photo |
| "qu" | 1 sound [k] | qui |
| “r”* | unreadable after “e” at the end of a word | parler |
| “h”* | never read, but divided into h silent and h aspirated | homme |
| “th“ | [t] | Marthe |
*Exception words: amitié, pitié.
*The letter is not pronounced at the end of a word after nasal vowels. For example: banc. And also in words such as (porc, tabac, estomac [ɛstoma]).
*Exceptions are some nouns and adjectives: hiver, fer, cher [ʃɛ:r], ver, mer, hier.
*In French, the letter “h” plays a specific role in pronunciation:
- when h is in the middle of a word between vowels, they are read separately, for example: Sahara, cahier, trahir;
- with the silent h at the beginning of the word, a connection is made and the vowel is dropped, for example: l‘hectare, ilshabitent;
- before the aspirative h, no binding is made and the vowel sound is not dropped, for example: la harpe, le hamac, les hamacs, les harpes.
In dictionaries, words with an aspirated h are indicated by an asterisk, for example: *haut.
Cohesion, binding and other features of French phonetics
Voiced consonants should always be pronounced clearly, without deafening them at the end of the word. Unstressed vowels should also be pronounced clearly, without reducing them.
Before such consonant sounds as [r], [z], [Ʒ], [v], stressed vowels become long or acquire longitude, which is indicated in transcription by a colon. Example: base.
French words tend to lose their stress in the speech stream, since they are combined into groups that have a common semantic meaning and a common stress that falls on the last vowel. In this way, rhythmic groups are formed.
When reading a rhythmic group, be sure to observe two important rules: cohesion (French enchainement) and binding (French liaison). Without knowledge of these two phenomena, learning to hear, distinguish and understand words in a stream of French speech will be extremely difficult.
Concatenation is the phenomenon when a pronounced consonant at the end of one word forms one syllable with a vowel at the beginning of the next word. Examples: elle aime, j'habite, la salle est claire.
Linking is when the final unpronounceable consonant is pronounced by linking it with the vowel at the beginning of the next word. Examples: c'est elle or à neuf heures.
Test yourself
Having carefully read all the rules and exceptions, now try to read the words given in the exercises below without looking at the theoretical material.
Exercise 1
sale, date, vaste, père, mère, valse, sûr, crème, rate, tête, traverse, appeler, vite, pièce, fête, bête, crêpe, marcher, répéter, pomme, tu, armée, les, mes, pénétrer, le, je, me, ce, monopole, chat, photo, regarder, pianiste, ciel, miel, donner, minute, une, bicyclette, théâtre, paragraphe, thé, marche, physicien, espagnol.
Exercise 2
titane, attire, tissage, titi, type, tirade, active, bicyclette, gypse, myrte, cycliste, Egypte;
naïf, maïs, laïcité, naïve, haïr, laïque, abïme;
fière, bière, ciel, carrière, piège, miel, pièce, panier;
pareil, abeille, vermeil, veille, merveille;
ail, médaille, bail, travail, détail, émail, vaille, détailler;
fille, bille, grille, billet, quille, ville;
habiter, trahi, géhenne, habiller, malhabile, hériter, inhabile, Sahara;
l’herbe – les herbes, l’habit – les habits, l’haltère – les haltères;
la harpe - les harpes, la hache - les haches, la halte - les haltes, la haie - les haies.
Start with the reading rules. I just beg you: don’t try to learn them right away! First of all, it won't work- After all, there are a lot of them, and secondly, they are not necessary. Everything will settle down over time. You can just look at this page periodically. The main thing is to read them carefully (maybe more than one sitting), look at the examples, try to do the exercises and test yourself- there is a sound next to the exercises - the way the French pronounce these same words.
The main thing to remember is that the reading rules There is. This means that, knowing the rules, you can always - almost always - read an unfamiliar word. This is why French does not require transcription (only in the case of fairly rare phonetic exceptions). The beginnings of the first five lessons are also devoted to reading rules - there you will find additional exercises to consolidate skills. Starting from the third lesson, you can download the sound and listen to detailed explanations of the reading rules made by a professional phonetician.
Let's start learning :) Let's go!
In French, the stress ALWAYS falls on the last syllable... This is news to you, isn't it? ;-)
-s, -t, -d, -z, -x, -p, -g (as well as their combinations) at the end of words are NOT READABLE.
Vowels
e, è, ê, é, ё under stress and in a closed syllable it is read as “e”: fourchette [buffet] - fork. (c), which can be neglected at the initial stage. Reading a letterein all its guises is discussed in detail on lesson iii from the very beginning - I must say, there is a lot there.
e V unstressed syllable reads approximately like the German "ö" - like the letter "e" in the word Möbius: menu [menu], regarder [rögarde]. In order to make this sound, you need to stretch your lips forward like a bow (as in the picture below) and at the same time pronounce the letter “e”.
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In the middle of words in an open syllable, this letter is dropped completely during pronunciation (e is fluent). So, for example, the word carrefour (crossroads) is read as [kar "fur] (the unstressed "e" in the middle of the word is not pronounced). It would not be a mistake to read it [karefur], but when you speak quickly, it falls out, as it turns out to be a weak sound . Épicerie (grocery) is read as [epis"ri]. Madeleine - [madeleine]. |
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And so - in so many words. But don’t be afraid - weak “e” will fall out on their own, because this is natural :)
This phenomenon also happens in our speech, we just don’t think about it. For example, the word “head”: when we pronounce it, the first vowel is so weak that it falls out, and we practically do not pronounce it and say [glava]. I’m not even talking about the word “eleventh”, which we pronounce as [one] (I discovered this in my son’s notebook; at first I was horrified: how could so many mistakes be made in one word, and then I realized that the child simply wrote this word down by ear - we really pronounce it that way :).
eat the end of words (see exceptions below) is not read (it is sometimes pronounced in songs and poems). If there are any icons above it, it is always readable, no matter where it stands. For example: régime [mode], rosé [rose] - rose wine.
In monosyllable words e at the end of words it is read - if it is not read there, a syllable cannot be formed at all. These are articles, prepositions, pronouns, demonstrative adjectives: le [le], de [de], je [zhe], me [мё], ce [сё].
Unreadable ending -s, forming the plural of nouns (something familiar, right?) and adjectives, will appear, does not make a letter -e at the end of the word readable: régime and régimes are read the same - [mode].
-er at the ends of words it is read as “e”: parler [parle] - talk.-eris the standard ending for French regular verbs.
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a- reads like “a”: valse [waltz]. i(including with icons) - reads like "and": vie [vi] - life (quickly remember "C" est la vie" :). o– reads like “o”: locomotive [locomotive], compote[compote] (fruit puree). u reads like the "yu" in the word "muesli". Example: cuvette is read [ditch] and means “ditch”, parachute [parachute] - means “parachute” :), the same happens with purée (puree), and c configuration(jam). |
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Consonants
Letter lreads softly: étoile [etoile] - star, table [table] - table, banal [banal] - banal, canal [channel], carnaval [carnival].
gread like "g", but beforee, i And yit is read as "zh". For example: général - read [general], régime [mode], agiotage [excitement]. A good example is the word garage - read [garage] - firstg before areads firmly, and the secondg before e- like "w".
Withread like "k", but beforee, i And yit is read as "s". For example: certificat reads [certificate].
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If you need to change this behavior, that is, make this letter read like [s] before other vowels, attach a tail to it at the bottom: Ç And ç . Ça is read as [sa]; garçon [garson] - boy, maçon (mason), façon (style), façade (facade). The famous French greeting Comment ça va [coma~ sa va] (or more often just ça va) means “how are you”, and literally “how is it going”. You can see in films that they say hello like that. One asks: “Ça va?”, the other answers: “Ça va, Ça va!”. At the ends of words cis rare. Unfortunately, there is no hard and fast rule about when to read it and when not to. This is simply remembered for each word - fortunately there are few of them: for example, blanc [bl "an] - white, estomac [estoma] - stomach andtobacco[taba] is not readable, but cognac and avec are readable. |
| hNEVER read. It's as if she doesn't exist. Except for the combination "ch". Sometimes this letter acts as a separator - if it occurs inside a word between vowels, then this indicates their separate reading: Sahara [sa "ara], cahier [ka "ye]. In any case, it itself is not readable. For this reason, by the way, the name of one of the most famous cognac housesHennessy correctly pronounced (surprise!) as [ansi]:"h" is not readable,"e" is fluent, double ss is used to mute sand as a double [s] it is not readable (see below for the rule for reading the letter s); other pronunciations are categorically incorrect. Combination chgives the sound [w]. For example, chance [chance] - luck, luck, chantage [blackmail], cliché [cliché], cache-nez [muffler] - scarf (literally: hides the nose); |  |
ph reads like " f": photo. thread as "t": th éâ tre [theater], th é [those] - tea.
p - reads like Russian "p":
portrait [portrait].
In the middle of a word, the letter p before t is not readable:
sculpture [skulture]
j- reads like Russian w: bonjour [bonjour] - hello, jalousie [blinds] - envy, jealousy and blinds, sujet [plot] - plot.
sreads like Russian “s”: geste [gesture], régisseur [director], chaussée [highway]; between two vowelssis voiced and reads like “z”: fuselage [fuselage], limousine [limousine] - very intuitive. If necessary sto make it unvoiced between vowels, it is doubled. Compare: poison [poison] - poison, and poisson [poisson] - fish.
The rest of the consonants (are there many of them left? :) -n, m, p, t, x, z- read more or less obviously. Some minor features of reading x and t will be described separately - rather for the sake of order. Well, welln And mcombined with vowels give rise to Just a whole class of sounds that will be described in a separate - the most interesting - section.
Here is a list of words given above as examples - before doing the exercise, it is better to listen to how the French pronounce these words.
menu, regarder, carrefour, régime, rosé, parler, cuvette, parachute, confiture, souvenir, fourchette, nous, vous, étoile, table, banal, canal, carnaval, général, valse, garage, cognac, champignons, champagne, certificate, chance, théâtre, thé, portrait, sculpture, bonjour, sujet, geste, chaussée.
sale, rate, date, vaste, valse, crème, tête, traverse, fête, bête, crêpe, père, mère, armée, marcher, répéter, les, mes, pénétrer, le, je, me, ce, regarder, appeler, vite, pièce, pianiste, ciel, miel, monopole, donner, pomme, tu, minute, sûr, une, bicyclette, théâtre, thé, marche, chat, photo, paragraphe, physicien, espagnol
Now you can listen to how these words are actually pronounced.
If you don’t see sound players on this page (as well as on all the others), it means option A, which most likely means you accessed the site using “ wrong" address. The correct website address is: , (). Option B: You are viewing the site on a tablet or phone running Android or iOS that does not support Flash technology.There is a solution: install the free browser for Android FlashFox or for iOSPuffin Web Browser -Everything works in them, tested.
An extensive list of words for practicing reading the rules described above is given (will open in a new tab), where these rules are taught.
Vowel combinations
ai, ei read as "e": éclair [eclair] - lightning, maire [mayor], porte-monnaie [port-monet] - literally "carries money".
eu, œuread like the vowel “е” in the word dog: fleur [fleur] - flower, cœur [ker] - heart, maraudeur [marauder].
au And eauread like the Russian "o": tableau [table "o] - picture, tableau, cauchemar [kosh"mar], débauche [brawl], bureau [bureau].
oureads like Russian “u” (see details above): couplet [couple], tabouret [stool].
oireads as “ýa” (the first sound is more similar to the Belarusian u-short - like the English [w]):, croissant [croissant], poisson [pusson] - fish, poison [pazon] - poison, trottoir [trotýar], pourquoi [purkýa] - why, mémoire [memoir] - memory. Detailed explanations and the history of the origin of these sounds (which in the language are classified as semivowels) can be heard at , where they understand from the very beginning of the lesson.
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y - As promised, in combination with vowels this letter is read unusually. In fact, everything is simple: you need to mentally cut this letter into two “i”: y => “i + i” - and read the word as if instead of one “y” there are two “i”: voyage (travel) will be read at all not [voyage], but: voi+iage = [voi+iage]. More examples: balayer (ba-lai-ier) - sweep, crayon (crai-ion) - pencil. At first it seems monstrous, but then you get used to it, and it does not create difficulties: royal[royal] - royal, essayer [eseye] - try (remember "essay" - essai - attempt). |
Royal Palace |
ï (if it’s hard to see, it’s i with two dots) is always read separately - it does not create combinations with other letters: faïence [faience], astéroïde [asteroid], égoïste [egoist],baïonnette [bayonet] (bayonet),Dostoevski- the combination of ai [e] and oi [ua] do not work (otherwise [asteruad] and [eguast] would have happened :). Actually, the second dot over i is placed just to make it clear that the rule of combinations is being violated (by analogy with the letter ç, where a tail is placed to violate the rule). It is extremely rare.
paire, beige, faire, déjeuner, fleur, sœur, faute, tableau, corbeau, beaucoup, beau, vous, tour, bateau, taureau, coup, trois, coin, pourquoi, royal, naïf, laïque, pays
Let's listen to the original.
Combinations of vowels and consonants
quread as “k” - always: banquet [bank] - banquet, question [kestion] - question. At the ends of words, I hear some softening: in the word fabrique [factory] (factory), the “k” at the end sounds softer than in the word avec [avec] (the conjunction “with”). I could be wrong :).
gu- if it is necessary for the letter g to be read firmly before e, i or y, a separating u is placed after it, which is not readable. For example, guirlande is read as [garlands], the word guitare is read as [guitar] (if you remove the separating “u”, it will read [gitar] :).
il(l) And ille- guys are capricious and fickle. General rule is as follows: after a vowel they read like “th”, and after a consonant and a lone u- like "ii": portefeuille [port "fey"] - wallet, billet [biye] - ticket, famille [surname] - family,juillet th e] - July ("u" lonely), bouillon [bu th he] - broth(“u” is not alone, but as part of a diphthong ou) , guillotine [guillotine] - guillotine(here u is a “hard sign” and it’s as if it doesn’t exist at all), maquillage [makeup].
The exceptions are three words: mille [miles] - a thousand, ville [ville] - city, tranquille [tranquille] - peace (remember "tranquilizers" :). You can listen to a detailed story about the semivowels to which these sounds belong from the very beginning .
But there is a nuance (c;).
What happens if before this combination of letters (it starts with " i") there will be some kind of “a” or “e”, which also have their own interest in “i” - combinations of ai and ei. Who will win? Who will get the letter “i” “in combination”? How to read bouteille - [ butel] or [butey]? How to read vitrail - [vitrel] or [vitray]? And the word roiller?.. Answer: il/ille draw off the letter “i” without annexations and indemnities, and the “a” standing before them. e" and others like them walk through the forest. Dura lex, sed lex - the law is harsh, but it is the law. :-)
This rule seems obvious until you come across the inscription made by in capital letters, - at this moment intuition fails, and the word becomes unreadable:
The norm for pronunciation of the French language is the pronunciation of an educated Parisian.
The pronunciation of French vowels is subject to certain pronunciation rules, however, there are a large number of exceptions related to the influence of neighboring sounds and analogy.
Thus, for example, in an unstressed syllable a tends to be front, as in Paris Paris, but a with a ^ sign is posterior even in the unstressed position: bâiller yawn.
É in an unstressed syllable is usually closed: pénible is heavy, but it becomes open before two or three pronounced consonants: berceau cradle, encercler to surround or, when the spelling contains combinations of the letters ai, ei and the signs ê, è: maison house, peiner to upset, mêler confused, grièvement hard.
O in an unstressed syllable is open, but it becomes closed before the sound [z]: roseau reed or when there is au in the spelling: auprès about. Eu in an unstressed syllable is usually open: peut-être can be.
The quality of a vowel can change under the influence of another vowel that follows it, in particular [i] and [у]. For example, [ɛ] in the word aigu, acute, becomes closed under the influence of the following [y].
Before a pronounced consonant, the e sound is always open: sec dry, sel salt, bref short.
The sound o is also open before the final consonant: dot dowry, loques rags, except for the position before [z]: dose or when it is expressed in writing by the combination au or ô: gauche left, côte rib.
The sound se is also open before the final consonant: sœur sister, neuf new, except for the consonants t, d, k, z. There is a sound at the end of words O always closed: numéro number, eu also: peu little. E at the end of a word is closed if spelled through é, er, ex, ied, ef: blessé wounded, marcher go, marchez go, pied leg, clef key and open in all other spellings.
The combination ai conveys E open: plaie wound, with the exception of quai embankment, gai cheerful and j"ai I have.
Regardless of their position in relation to stress, French vowels are pronounced equally clearly and are never reduced. The quality of the vowel often serves to differentiate the meaning: [a: - a] pâte dough, patte paw, [o: -e] saute jump, sotte stupid.
E at the end of words is usually not pronounced: table table, lampe lamp, etc. Inside the word, the pronunciation of e is subject to the so-called. the law of “three consonants” by M. Grammont, which prescribes not to pronounce e within a word or group of words unless it is preceded by one consonant sound: ach(e)ter buy, tout 1(e)monde all, and to pronounce it if it is preceded two consonant sounds: justement [ʒystəmɑ̃] justly, il reste pâle he remains pale.
French voiced consonants at the end of words are never deafened: page [ra: ʒ] page, vive live, etc.; inside a word, consonants can be subject to assimilation: obscur dark, absent, etc.
The letter h is never pronounced. There are two h, so-called. h muet unpronounceable and h aspiré aspirated. H muet at the beginning of a word with an article or pronoun preceding it behaves like a vowel, that is, an elision occurs, the loss of e in the article and pronoun: l'homme people's habitler to dress, and h aspiré behaves like a consonant: la hache ax, se heurter come across.
The rules for reading French seem very complicated. A jumble of consonants and vowels, half of which are unreadable, an abundance of strange sounds, some lines and sticks above each vowel letter (diacritics). But here are a few facts that will allow you to look at these difficulties differently.
It was the French language that the nobility of Tsarist Russia chose as a compulsory language for any educated person. And the reasons were not only political. The most “modern” thoughts can be expressed in this language. This is not a joke, and anyone who starts reading books by writers of this country in the original is convinced of this. The French language is logical, elegant and deep. It is not surprising that many thinkers and philosophers spoke and wrote in it.
Knowing the rules of reading French, in 99% of cases you will be able to read an unfamiliar word without a single mistake. This cannot be said about English. Compared to French, it is simply replete with exceptions.
The most simple rules reading in French
Let's list what you definitely need to know to get started and what will allow you to move forward without fear.
1. The stress always (without exception) falls on the last syllable. Along with grazing and nasal vowels, this creates a unique melody of speech. Letters -s (as in dans, tapis), -t (as in enseignement, parlant), -d (as in second, phard), -z (as in assez), -x (as in aux), -p ( as in astap), -g at the end of words are not read. Combinations of these letters are also not pronounced. The letter r at the end of words is not readable in combination -er. For example, parler (parle).
2. The letter "e" deserves a separate description. Pay attention to where it is: in a closed or open syllable, under stress or not, whether it is at the end of the word. Of course, the rules for reading French, once you get to the vowel pronunciation, really take a lot of time to memorize. To begin with, it is worth learning that if the stress falls on it and the syllable is closed, then it is read close to the Russian “e”. If the syllable is open, then the letter acquires a funny softness and is read similar to the Russian “ё”, as in the word honey, only a little differently - deeper. As an example, let’s take the widely used word regarder (look). It has two letters "e", which are read differently - after all, the first syllable is open, the last - closed. 
3. In no case is the letter h read; its task is to separate the vowels. In other cases, it is simply written. But the combination ch is read like "sh" (in English it is pronounced like "ch"). For example, chance (chance), chacal (jackal). Other popular vowel combinations: ph - the sound "f", th - the sound "t". For example, phare - lighthouse, théorème - theorem.
4. Nasal vowels are the salt and zest of the French language. They provide the characteristic and unique sound of this speech. Out of habit, they may seem quite complicated. However, their sonority undoubtedly compensates for all difficulties. They are pronounced nasally, as if approaching the nasal “n”, but without turning into it. The vowels before the letters n and m become nasal. There are four such vowels: i, a, o, u. These letters are never nasalized before doubled nn and mm, or before other vowels.
5. The letter "s" behaves as complexly as in English. As a rule, it is read as "k". But before the letters -e, -i, -y, it is read as “s”. But if it has a "tail", then it is always read as "s". For example, comme ça (com sa) - so.
These are not all the rules for reading French. This is not even all of its main provisions. But don't try to take the French language by storm. It is better to study the rules of reading in small portions. The main difficulty for most students is not the rules themselves, but the fact that they distribute information incorrectly. Let’s say it’s better to devote one lesson entirely to pronouncing the letter “e”, without being distracted by other sounds. By studying the rules of reading French wholesale, you risk coming to the conclusion that more than one student has come to: “it’s too difficult.”
in FRENCH
French is famous for its complex spelling. Such a number of silent letters, that is, letters that are not pronounced, as well as combinations of several letters that are read with one sound, are not found in any other European language. This is due to the history of the development of the language and the national characteristics of its people - the French do not want to forget their ancestors and, in tribute to them, they retain their complex written language, but constantly simplify their oral speech.
If you accept the fact that you don’t need to read some of the letters, then reading French is quite easy, but writing it is much more difficult. And by ear, there is very little chance of spelling a word in French correctly if you have never seen how it is written, which is why it is so important to read books in French. Only books can help you learn French spelling.
For Russian speakers there is a certain difficulty in mastering French pronunciation, since it contains a number of sounds that have no analogues in the Russian language. But these sounds are few and quite easy to master.
In French it is used latin alphabet, there are no proper letters, but there are letters with so-called diacritics (dashes, sticks, checkmarks and dots above the letters), which we will consider below
Let's move on to the reading rules.
Vowels and their combinations
In general, vowels are read fairly standardly: a [a], e [e], i [and], o [o], u [y], y [and]
But they have some peculiarities
1. Letter e:
- in an open unstressed syllable reads like [œ] - something in between o, e and e (we put our lips together as to pronounce o, but try to pronounce e)
- at the end of a word of several syllables it is not readable at all
2. Letter u read as something between u and yu (as in the word tulle)
3. Letter y:
- between vowels it is read as [th] ( royal).
- between consonants is read as [and] ( style).
4. Before the consonant sounds [р], [з], [ж], [в], [вр] stressed vowel sounds become long: base [baaz].
Vowels with diacritics (dashes and sticks)
Above French vowels we often see various dashes, sticks, ticks, dots, etc. This is again a tribute from the French to their ancestors, since these symbols mean that next to this letter there used to be a consonant, which is no longer written. For example, the word holiday fête came from a Latin word and lost the letter s in the middle, but in the Russian word of the same origin “festival” and the Spanish “fiesta” this letter remained.
In most cases, these symbols do not affect pronunciation, but help to distinguish similar words by meaning, but you will not hear this difference by ear!
You only need to remember the following options:
- è And ê read as [ɛ] (like Russian e): tête.
- é read as [e] (like the e in a smile): tele.
- If there are two dots above a vowel, then you just need to pronounce it separately from the previous one: Noël, egoïst
Special vowel combinations
- oi reads like [ua]: trois [trois].
- ui read as [ui]: n uit [nui]
- ou reads like [y]: cour [chickens].
- eau andau read as [o]: beaucoup [side], auto [from].
- eu, œu and letter e(in an open unstressed syllable) are read as [œ] / [ø] / [ǝ] (something between o and e): neuf [nave], regarder [regarde].
- ai And ei read as [e]: mais [me], beige [bezh].
Consonants and their combinations
Most of the consonants are read standardly:
b - [b]; s - [k]; d - [d]; f -[f]; g - [g]; h - [x]; j - [j]; l - [l]; m - [m]; n - [n]; p - [p]; r -[r]; s - [s]; t - [t]; v - [in]; w - [ue]; x - [ks]; z - [z]
Features of French consonants:
- h never read
- l always reads softly
- n at the end of a syllable is always read nasally
- r always reads burly
But, of course, there are other options for reading these consonants:
1. consonants are NOT readable (silent consonants):
- The words at the end are unreadable: t, d, s, x, z, p, g, es, ts, ds, ps (rose, nez, climate, trop, heureux, nid, sang; roses, nids, cadets)
- The end of the word is unreadable c after n: unbanc.
- The endings of verbs are not readable -ent: ilsparlent.
- At the end of the word the r after the e is not readable (- er): parler.
Exceptions: in some nouns and adjectives, for example: hiver [iver] , cher [share] mer [mayor],hier [yer],fer [fair] ,ver [ver] .
2. special cases of reading consonants
- double consonants are read as one sound: pomme [pom],classe [class].
- c read as [s] before i, e, y and, if written with a tail at the bottom ç : Circe,garçon , V in other cases it is read as [k]
- g reads like [zh] before i, e, y: courage, inin other cases it is read as [g]: garçon [garcon]
- s between vowels is read as [z]: vase [vaaz]
- x reads:
- at the beginning of a word between vowels like [gz]: exotic
]
- in cardinal numbers as [s]: six [sis], dix[dis].
- in ordinal numbers as [z]: sixième [light blue], dixième[disiem]
- in other cases as [ks]
- t read as [s] before i + vowel: national [national]
3. special combinations of consonants
- ch reads like [sh]: chercher [chershe].
- phreads like [f]:photo [photo].
- gn reads like [н]: ligne [tench].
Special combinations of vowels and consonants
- qu reads like [k]: qui [ki].
- gu before a vowel it is read as [g]: guerre [ger].
- il And ill reads like [th]: travail [travai], famille [surname].
Exceptions: ville [ville], mille [miles], tranquille [tranquille], Lille [lil].
Nasal sounds (n at the end of a syllable is always read nasally):
- an, am, en, em[an]: enfance, ensemble
- on, om[He]: bon, nom
- in, im, ein, aim, ain, yn, ym[en]: jardin
- un, um[yong]: brun, parfum
- oin[wen]: coin.
- ien[en]: bien.
Accent
Simply wonderful news awaits you here! In French, the stress always falls on the last syllable. There are no more rules. There is no such gift for language learners in any other European language.
But remember, if the words are connected or concatenated, then the stress falls on the last syllable of the last word of this construction.
Cohesion and linking of words in French
- Concatenation: the final pronounced consonant of one word forms one syllable with the initial vowel of the next word: el l e aime [elem]
- Linking: The final unpronounceable consonant begins to sound by linking with the initial vowel of the next word: c'es t elle [se tel], à neu f heures [and never].
Apostrophe
An apostrophe is a comma at the top.
Pronouns and articles ending in a vowel lose it and are replaced with an apostrophe if they are followed by a word beginning with a vowel sound
Instead of c e est - c’est [se], l e arbre – l’arbre [lyarbr], j e ai – j’ai [zhe], je t e aim - je t’aim [zhe tem]
If you are in doubt about how to read a word, enter it into any free online translator and click "listen". Google has such a translator. His French-Russian version of the translator is so-so, but he pronounces the words well :)
Typical mistakes of Russian speakers in pronunciation of French words:
Usually, the easiest way to identify a Russian person speaking French is by the incorrect pronunciation of those words. French sounds, which have no analogues in the Russian language:
- Russians make a sound [œ] like [e], but it should be like something in between o, e and e (we put our lips together as to pronounce o, but try to pronounce e). This sound appears when reading eu and e at the end of a word consisting of one syllable (qu e,f eu, p eu x, m e,t e, c e,v oeu, nerve eu x, s eu l, l eu r, c oeu r, s oeu r)
- we make a sound [u] like a regular [u] or [yu], but you need something in between u and u (as in the word “tulle”)
- carat french r we pronounce it awkwardly
- and we pronounce nasal sounds as simply [n].
- Also, Russians in French often have no difference between long and short vowels
- and too firm pronunciation of the letter l
But even if you say it this way, you will still be understood. It’s better to speak French with a Russian accent than not to speak it at all.
