Silent Letters in French - Lettres muettes
One of the difficulties with French pronunciation is that it is not a phonetic language. A phonetic language (e.g., Spanish, Arabic) is one in which each letter has a single corresponding sound; in other words, spelling matches pronunciation. Other languages, like French and English, are not phonetic: they have letters that can be pronounced in different ways or sometimes not at all.
There are three categories of silent letters in French.
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| This lesson will focus on final consonants; follow the links to the
right for detailed explanations of the silent letters E and
H.
The basic rule of French pronunciation is that the final consonant is not pronounced, but there are many exceptions, which are what this lesson is about.* |
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| The letters B, C, F, K, L, Q, and R are usually pronounced at the end of a word. Tip: Since B, K, and Q are rare as final consonants, some people find it helpful to use the word CaReFuL to remember the most common of the usually pronounced final consonants. | ||||||
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| Usually pronounced | Some exceptions* | |||||
| B | le Maghreb un snob un club |
le plomb | ||||
| C | un truc un flic avec |
un estomac, un tabac, le porc | ||||
| nasal vowel + c: un banc, blanc | ||||||
| F |
actif un chef un oeuf |
un nerf, une clef, oeufs | ||||
| K | un anorak un look le bifteck |
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| L |
il avril un hôtel un bol |
gentil, outil | ||||
| vowel + -il: à l'appareil, un oeil | ||||||
| Q | le coq cinq |
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| R | un four hiver abrutir |
{ | boulanger, boucher | |||
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-er |
-er infinitives: abonner, causer | |||||
| -ier suffix: premier, cahier | ||||||
| The other French consonants are usually silent at the end of a word, with some exceptions. Tip: many exceptions are proper names or words borrowed from other languages. | ||||||
| Usually silent | Some exceptions* | |||||
| D |
froid chaud d'accord |
sud | ||||
| Proper names: David, Alfred | ||||||
| G | le sang long |
le grog | ||||
| M, N | The letters M and N are usually silent, but remember that they cause the vowel preceding them to be nasal. | |||||
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un balcon parfum |
Latin words: amen, forum | |||||
| P | un drap beaucoup un champ |
un slip, un cap |
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| S |
exprès trois vous bas |
un fils, un autobus, le tennis | ||||
| T |
et abricot salut vingt |
brut, ouest, huit | ||||
| -ct ending: direct, strict | ||||||
| -pt ending: concept, sept | ||||||
| X |
deux un prix un époux |
six, index, Aix | ||||
| Z |
chez le riz |
le gaz | ||||
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