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The French Alphabet & Pronunciation

Learn the French alphabet accents and the key pronunciation rules that make French sound different from English.
French uses the same 26 letters as English but with additional accented characters: é è ê ë à â ù û î ï ô ç œ.
French has 26 letters plus accented variants.
Accents change pronunciation and sometimes meaning
The accent aigu (é) is pronounced like the English ay as in café.
é = ay sound.
Accent aigu
café / étudiant / répéter
The accent grave (è) is pronounced like the e in bed. The accent grave on à and ù does not change pronunciation — it distinguishes words.
è = open e sound.
Accent grave
très = very / père = father / à (at) vs a (has)
The accent circonflexe (ê â î ô û) often indicates a historical s that was dropped. It can change pronunciation for ê and ô.
Circumflex marks historical spelling changes.
forêt = forest / hôpital = hospital / être = to be
The cédille (ç) makes the letter c produce an s sound before a o and u.
ç = s sound before a o u.
Cédille
garçon = boy / français = French / leçon = lesson
Silent letters are very common in French. Final consonants are usually silent unless followed by a vowel in the next word.
Most final consonants are silent in French.
petit (silent t) / grand (silent d) / vous (silent s)
Liaison connects a normally silent final consonant to a following vowel sound. It is mandatory in some cases and forbidden in others.
Liaison links words when a vowel follows.
vous avez = voo-za-vay / ils ont = il-zon
The French r is a guttural sound produced at the back of the throat — very different from the English r.
French r = guttural throat sound.
-er verb endings: parler / regarder / manger
Nasal vowels (an en in on un) are pronounced through the nose. The following n or m is not fully pronounced.
Nasal vowels are key French sounds.
bon = bõ / vin = vẽ / blanc = blã / brun = brœ̃
The French u sound (as in tu lune) does not exist in English. Round your lips as if saying oo but say ee.
French u = rounded front vowel with no English equivalent.
tu / lune / rue / sur / vu