French Pronunciation Guide

The first step to speaking French is learning how to pronounce the words.  Luckily, both English and French use the Roman alphabet, so you are already familiar with the letters.  This gives you a strong starting point for learning how to pronounce French words.

In several cases, the French pronunciation of letters is very similar to the way they are pronounced in English – another plus!  However, there are important differences that you’ll need to be aware of when you are learning how to pronounce letters and words in French.

For instance, the letter “i” is pronounced “ee” in French… and the letter “e” is pronounced “euh” – kind of a cross between “oo” and “uh”.   You need to be aware of these pronunciation differences when you say French words if you want people to understand you in French!

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Below you will find a basic French pronunciation guide for beginners that will get you started with pronouncing French words.   Just as in English, there are various rules that determine how letters are pronounced when they are placed in certain combinations (and then of course there are exceptions to those rules) – but that’s more advanced stuff.

This basic French pronunciation guide does not cover all of the various pronunciation possibilities.  For now we’ll just focus on the simple stuff – basic French pronunciation.

When you are learning to speak French and your mind gets boggled by those unfamiliar combinations of letters, just refer to this basic French pronunciation guide to help you wrap your tongue (and your mind) around those sounds.

This French pronunciation guide starts with common vowel combinations and then moves on to consonants. In French, the consonants are often (but not always!) pronounced just as they are in English, so the consonants should be fairly easy for you.

It’s the vowels that you’ll really need to study.  Vowels will sound differently depending on whether or not they have an accent and what type of accent it has.  Vowels will also sound differently depending on the other letters that are around them.

Now, on to the French Pronunciation Guide!

Vowels

Consonants

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