French Grammar ? Print version ?
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The French Alphabet L'alphabet français
Characters Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee
Ff
Gg
Hh Ii
Pronunciation ah
bay say day euh
eff jhay
ash ee
Characters Jj
Kk Ll Mm Nn
Oo Pp
Qq Rr
Pronunciation ghee kah el emm enn
oh pay
ku air
Characters Ss
Tt Uu Vv Ww
Xx Yy
Zz
Pronunciation ess tay oo vay dubla-vay eeks ee-grehk zed
In addition, French uses several accents which are worth understanding. These are: à, è, ù, (grave accents) and é (acute accent). A circumflex applies to all vowels: â, ê, î, ô, û. A tréma (French for dieresis) is also applied: ë, ï, ü, ÿ. Two combined letters are used: æ and ?, and a cedilla is used on the c to make it sound like an English s: ç. More information on accents will be found in the next section.
Letters and examples
French Grammar ? Print version ?
audio (info ?101 kb ? help)
The French Alphabet L'alphabet français
name in French
letter
pronunciation
(in IPA transcription)
Aa
like a in father
/a/
Bb
like b in may"be
/be/
before e and i: like c in center
Cc
/se/
before a, o, or u: like c in cat
Dd
like d in dog
/de/
Ee
approx. like u in burp**
/?/
Ff
like f in fog
/?f/
before e and i: like s in measure
Gg
/?e/
before a, o, or u: like g in get
Hh
aspirated h: see note below*
/a?/
non-aspirated h: not pronounced***
Ii
like ea in team
/i/
Jj
like s in measure
/?i/
Kk
like k in kite
/ka/
Ll
like l in lemon
/?l/
Mm like m in minute
/?m/
Nn
like n in note
/?n/
closed: approx. like u in nut
Oo
/o/
open: like o in nose
Pp
like p in pen*
/pe/
/ky/ see 'u'
