French Lesson 1 : The Alphabet & Pronounciation

French Lesson 1 : The Alphabet & Pronounciation. Learn the 26 letters of the French alphabet, their pronunciation, and special sounds unique to French. By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to recognize and pronounce French letters correctly.

🅰️ 1. The French Alphabet

 

The French alphabet has 26 letters, just like in English.
However, many letters are pronounced differently, and some have accents that change their sound.

Letter	Name (in French)	Pronunciation Example
A	ah	as in ami (friend)
B	bé	as in bonjour
C	cé	like s before e, i, y → cent
D	dé	as in dîner
E	euh	soft neutral sound
F	èf	as in femme
G	gé	soft “zh” before e, i, y
H	ash	usually silent
I	ee	as in ici
J	ji	“zh” sound, as in je
K	ka	as in kilo
L	èl	as in lait
M	èm	as in mère
N	èn	as in nom
O	oh	as in rose
P	pé	as in pain
Q	ku	as in qui
R	air	deep throat sound (rolled slightly)
S	ès	as in soleil
T	té	as in temps
U	uu	rounded lips, no English equivalent
V	vé	as in vin
W	double vé	used mostly in foreign words
X	iks	as in taxi
Y	i grec	as in style
Z	zed	as in zéro

 

 

French letters and their pronounciation

 

✳️ 2. The Accented Letters

French uses accents that change the pronunciation and sometimes the meaning.

 

Letter	Accent	Example	Pronunciation
é	Accent aigu	été	[ay] sound
è, ê, ë	Accent grave, circonflexe, tréma	père, fête, Noël	open [eh] or separate syllable
à, â	Grave / Circonflexe	là, gâteau	same or slightly longer sound
ç	Cédille	garçon	soft [s] sound before a, o, u

 

🔊 3. Pronunciation Tips

 

✅ Silent letters:
Final e, s, t are often silent → petit, vous, elle

✅ Nasal sounds:

• an / en / em → sound from the nose (enfant)

• on / om → like ong (nom)

• in / im / ain / ein → nasal eh sound (pain)

✅ Linking (Liaison):
When a word ending with a consonant is followed by a vowel, you connect the sounds:

les amis → “lé-z-ami”