Presentation is loading. Please wait.

Presentation is loading. Please wait.

French Alphabet and Pronunciation French Alphabet & Pronunciation.

Similar presentations

Presentation on theme: "French Alphabet and Pronunciation French Alphabet & Pronunciation."— Presentation transcript:


2 French Alphabet and Pronunciation French Alphabet & Pronunciation

3 French Alphabet and Pronunciation French Alphabet a = ahh b = bay c = say d = day e = ur f = eff g = jay h = ash i = eeeee j = jee k = kar l = ell m = em n = en o = oh p = pay q = kuh r = air s = ess t = tay u = ew v = vay w = dooble vay x = eeks y = eeee grec Z = zed

4 French Alphabet and Pronunciation French Pronunciation French can be a challenge to pronounce but not impossible! Persevere and keep coming back to this practice. Also remember people tend to like it when people have an accent so dont worry if you have one… its cute… unless youre being rude!! Following are a few pointers but irritatingly there are a lot of exceptions (as there are in the English language) but most of the time the following rules apply:

5 French Alphabet and Pronunciation Final consonants are often silent: Paris (pa-ree), Londres (loñdr). However, sometimes the ending is pronounced if it is followed by a word which begins with a vowel: avez-vous (avay voo) but vous avez (vooz avay).

6 French Alphabet and Pronunciation Common exceptions where the last letter can be heard include: Août (August) Avec (with) Cinq (five) Sept (seven) (can hear t but not the p!!) Huit (eight) Neuf (nine) Soir (evening)

7 There are a few more, but youll learn them as you go… bel bœuf bol donc hiver œuf tous French Alphabet and Pronunciation

8 Accents Some but not all accents can change the sound of the letter and or the meaning of a word. The main ones are é è ç. You will come across these later. For example: manger (manjay) = to eat je mange = I eat jai mangé (manjay) = I ate. Have a practice….(mange-tout means eat- everything!)

9 French Alphabet and Pronunciation a = ah e.g. table (pronounced taaaable – think of the sound you make for the dentist!) Confortable (comfortable) Argent (money) Adresse (address) Abbaye (abbey) Parents (parents)

10 French Alphabet and Pronunciation ç (called a cédille) changes the c into an s sound, the same for c followed by e or i Ç = s Ce / Ci = s Français (French) Garçon (boy) Leçon (lesson) Ciel (sky) Cest (its) Ce nest pas (its not) Glace (icecream) Citron (lemon)

11 French Alphabet and Pronunciation ch = sh e.g. chat (sha) (cat) Chambre (bedroom) Cher (dear both in the meaning of expensive and my dear) Chips (crisps!!) Prochain (next)

12 French Alphabet and Pronunciation É, er, et, ez, es, est, ai, ais, ait, aient = ay e.g. été (aytay) (summer) Bébé (baby) Écosse (Scotland) Marché (market), marcher (to walk), marchez (you guys walk) Enchanté (literally enchanted but used to mean delighted to meet you) Café (coffee or a café) Bon appétit (enjoy your meal) Église (church) La télé(vison) (telly/television) Cinéma (cinema) École (school) Musée (museum) Bonne journée (good day – not to be confused with journey this would be voyage in French so when people are leaving you can say bon voyage)

13 French Alphabet and Pronunciation È/è = eh e.g. très (treh) (very) Près (near) Frère (brother) Père (father) Bière (beer) Après (after) Première (first – like the premier league) Derrière (behind) La gare routière (literally the road station – we call it coach station)

14 French Alphabet and Pronunciation Eau(x), au(x) = (oh) e.g. beau (boh) (beautiful/handsome) Eau (water) Agneau (lamb) Bateau (boat) Château (castle) Bureau (office) Entrevaux (city name)

15 French Alphabet and Pronunciation Eu(x) = uh e.g. neuf (nuhf) (nine) (like the end of enough with a French accent!) Je veux (I want) Deux (two) Oeuf (egg) (becomes oeux in plural) Boeuf (beef) Je veux deux oeux = I want 2 eggs

16 French Alphabet and Pronunciation g + e, i = jay, jee e.g. gel, gîte (jayl, jeet) Genoux (knees) Gémeaux (twins/Gemini) Gérard (Gerard) Fromage (cheese) Étranger (foreigner) Étrange (strange)

17 French Alphabet and Pronunciation gn = ny e.g. saignant (say-nyoñ) (rare as in cooking meat) Oignon (onion) Baignoire (bath) Peigne (comb) Saigner (to bleed) Signaler ( to indicate)

18 French Alphabet and Pronunciation h is silent e.g., hôtel (ohtel), homard (omar) (lobster). Horrible (horrible) Hor doeuvre (starter) Horaire (timetable) Henri (Henry) Hôpital (hospital) (ô – replaces os)

19 French Alphabet and Pronunciation i = ee e.g. ville (veel) (town) Il (he/it) Irlandais(e) Irish) Village (village) Cinéma (cinema) Historique (historical) Sandwich (sandwich)

20 ll either makes an l sound (as in ville), but it sometimes makes a y sound, as in vieille (old). These will just have to be learned in context, as your vocabulary expands. French Alphabet and Pronunciation

21 eille = ay e.g. Marseille (marsay) Oreille (ear) Oreiller (pillow) Réveiller (to awaken)

22 French Alphabet and Pronunciation o = oh e.g., disco (discoh) Coca (Coca Cola) La poste (post office) Horloge (clock) Non (no) Pommes (apples)

23 French Alphabet and Pronunciation oi = wa e.g. roi (rwa) (king) Oie (goose) Soit (either) Bois (wood) Croire (to believe) Soir (evening) Toit (roof)

24 French Alphabet and Pronunciation ou / où = ooh e.g. route (rooooht) (road) Fou (crazy) Où (where) without accent means or (ou) Rouge (red); Feux rouge (red light on traffic lights) Tout, tous, toute, toutes (all of these mean all) Bonne route!

25 ph = f photo Photographe (noun) = photographer Photo(graphie) (noun) = photograph Photographier (verb) = to photograph someone or something French Alphabet and Pronunciation

26 q or qu has a hard k sound e.g. quinze (sounds like cans) (fifteen) Quatre (four) Quatorze (fourteen) cat oars Quatre – quatre (four wheel drive) Qui (who) Quitter (to leave – can also say partir) Cinq (five – one of the exceptions when the last letter is pronounced)

27 French Alphabet and Pronunciation r is said at the back of the throat with the tongue at the bottom of the mouth (in English the r makes the tongue go up). It sounds like a softer version of a cat trying to get rid of a furball! Travaille (work) Garage (garage) Carottes rapées (grated carrots) Tranche (slice) Hiver (winter) Printemps (spring) Réserver (to reserve)

28 s = s when: 1. Its at the beginning of a word. (sa = his/her) 2. There are 2 s inside a word. (déssert) Otherwise, it makes a zz sound. (désert) Sabine, Sophie (name) Susie French Alphabet and Pronunciation

29 th is pronounced just t which is why French native speakers have a lot of problems with our th and you may hear them say zat was ze zeory on zursday ze forz instead of that was the theory on Thursday the fourth although I havent heard this sentence too often! Thé (tea) Thierry (Terry or Thierry as in the footballer Thierry Henri) Cathédrale (cathedral) Théâtre (theatre) Thon (tuna)

30 French Alphabet and Pronunciation u = oo (stomach punch) e.g. sur (soor) (on) Jus (juice) Université (university) Rugby (rugby) Jupe (skirt) Musique (music)

31 French Alphabet and Pronunciation ui = wee e.g. huit (weet) Huître (oyster) Huile (oil) Cuire (to cook) Suivre (to follow) Lui (him) Nuit (night) Puis-je? (may I?) Puis-je cuire les huîtres avec lhuile pour lui cette nuit? = May I cook the oysters with oil for him this night?!

32 French Alphabet and Pronunciation Mixtures Try these ones! Théière (teapot) Grenouille (frog)

Download ppt "French Alphabet and Pronunciation French Alphabet & Pronunciation."

Similar presentations

Ads by Google