French IPA

Consonants:
Letter Spelling IPA Word With IPA English Approximation

b -b or -bb initial and medial [b] beau [bo] beauty, abide

abbesse [a.bɛsə]

final silent plomb [plõ]

*b becomes [p] when followed by c, s, or t [p] absolu [apsɔly]

c -c before a front vowel (-e, -i, or -y) [s] ciel [sjɛl] sir

-cc before a front vowel (-e, -i, or -y) [ks] accent [aksɑ̃] success

-c or -cc before a back vowel (-a, -o, -u) or a cons. [k] encore [ɑ̃kɔɾə] candle

final [k] parc [paɾk]

final after -n silent blanc [blɑ̃]

-ct final [kt] direct [diɾɛkt] direct

silent respect [ɾəspɛ]

-ç [s] garçon [gaɾsõ] sound

-ch [ʃ] blanche [blɑ̃ʃə] sheep

-cqu [k] acquisition [akizisjõ] keep

d -d or -dd initial or medial [d] doux [du] do

addition [adisjõ]

final silent pied [pje]

f -f or-ff initial or medial [f] enfant [ɑ̃fɑ̃] festival

effort [ɛfɔɾ]
final
[f] comparatif [kõpaɾatif]

g -g before a front vowel (-e, -i, or -y) [ʒ] sabotage [zabɔtaʒə] vision

-gg before a front vowel (-e, -i, or -y) [gʒ] suggestion [sygʒɛstjõ]

-g or -gg before a back vowel (-a, -o, -u) or a cons. [g] grave [gɾavə] give

final silent sang [sɑ̃]

 -ge before a back vowel (-a, -o, -u) or a cons. [ʒ] pigeon [piʒõ] casual

-gu before a front vowel (-e, -i, or -y) [g] gigue [ʒigə]

-gn [ɲ] compagnon [kõpaɲõ] canyon

-gt silent doigt [dwa]

h Initial -h is classified as mute and aspirate - both are always silent

j -j [ʒ] jardin [ʒaɾɛ]̃ treasure

l -l or -ll initial or medial [l] large [laɾʒə] blissful

ballet [balɛ]

final [l] ideal [ideal]

-il, ill, and -ille (but not final -ile) [j] soleil [sɔlɛj] yes
papillons [papijõ]
famille [famijə]

m -m or -mm initial or medial [m] mardi [maɾdi] mammoth

flamme [flamə]

after a nasal vowel silent parfum [paɾfœ̃]

n -n or -nn initial or medial [n] neige [nɛʒə] linen

année [aneə]

after a nasal vowel silent ensemble [ɑ̃sɑ̃blə]

p -p or -pp initial or medial [p] captive [kaptivə] paper

support [sypɔɾ]

final silent trop [tɾo]

q -qu initial or medial [k] liqueur [likœɾ] liquid

final [k] cinq [sɛk̃ ]

r -r or -rr [ɾ] garage [gaɾaʒə] throne

-er, -ier, or -yer final in some nouns and adjectives silent foyer [fwaje]

s -s and -ss initial or medial [s] séance [seɑ̃sə] since

Debussy [dəbysi]

-s intervocalic [z] maison [mɛzõ] music

-s final silent toujours [tuʒuɾ]

 -sc before a front vowel (-e, -i, or -y) [s] descendre [dɛsɑ̃dɾə] descend

-sc before a back vowel (-a, -o, -u, or cons.) [sk] scandale [skɑ̃dalə] scandal

-sch initial or medial [ʃ] schéma [ʃɛma] she

t -t or -tt initial or medial [t] total [tɔtal] teach

glotte [glɔtə]

-t final silent tuot [tu]

-th [t] Thomas [tɔma] Thomas

-ti in endings -tion or -tience [sj] attention [atɑ̃sjõ]

-tie when final [ti.ə] sortie [sɔɾti.ə]

v -v initial or medial [v] souvenir [suvəniɾ] visual

x x + consonant [ks] texte [tɛkstə] text

x + vowel or h [gz] exemple [ɛgzɑ̃plə] exact

z initial or medial [z] zéle [zɛlə] zoo

final silent chez [ʃe]

Closed Vowels
Vowel Spelling Word With IPA English Approximation/Guide

[i] Single i, y, circumflex î (except when nasalized) triste [tɾistə] eat

In hiatus
Vowel + ï naïf [naif]
Final -ie amie [ami]

[e] Spelling é étoiles [etwalə] chaos, décor

e + final r, rs, z, d, ds sentier [sɑ̃tje]

bergers [bɛɾʒe]
venez [vəne]
pied [pje]

-ai verb ending dirai [diɾe]

Initial combinations of eff-, ess-, desc-, and dess-: efface [efasə]

(see below for exceptions) essor [esɔɾ]
descend [desɑ̃]
 dessin [desɛ]̃

*Vocalic harmonization of ɑi, ɑî, ei, ay, and ê baiser [beze]

rafraîchir [ɾafɾeʃiɾ]
peignés [peɲe]
éveillée [evejeə]
payer [peje]
rêver [ɾeve]
(see charts below)

[u] ou, où, oû amour [amuɾ] food, blue

où [u]
voûte [vutə]

*note rare spelling: août [u]

[o] ô trône [tɾonə] obey, protect

au and eau pauvre [poveɾə]
Final [o] trop [tɾo]
o+z rose [ɾozə]
-tion dévotion
Closed [o] words: o, oh, fosse, grosse

[y] Single u, û lune [lynə] roughly like Australian “too”

Brûle [bɾylə] like “ü” in German “über”

[ø] Final -eu feu [fø] burn (British English)

eu, œu + final silent consonant
Spelling eu + s + vowel berceuse [bɛɾsøzə]
Vocalic Harmonization heureux [(ø)ɾø]

[ɑ] ɑ̂ (always) ɑ̂me [ɑmə] father, robin

*some medial ass passer [pɑse]
Some a + [z] vase [vɑzə]
Final -as bas [bɑ]
[a]: ah, diable, flamme, gars, jadis, sable, sabre,
taille, bois, voix

[ɑ̃] e, a + n, m + consonant vent [vɑ̃] Start with the sound of the “a” in
Final -an océan [ɔseɑ̃] “ah”, then add nasalization by
(except when e, a+ n, m is followed by n, m, h, or lowering your soft palate and
a vowel) allowing air to flow out through
Except: enivré [ɑ̃nivɾe], enneigé [ɑ̃neʒe], your nose.
ennui [ɑ̃nɥi]

[õ] on, om + consonant or final ombre [õmbɾə] Start with the sound of the “o” in
(except when on, om, is followed by n, m, h, or a “au” then add nasalization as listed
vowel) above. Roughly like “drawn” with
an Australian accent
[j] i, y, ï + vowel lierre [ljɛɾə] yet, year
yeux [jø]
Medial ill: fille [fijə]
(except mille, ville, tranquille, oscille)

Vowel + il soleil [sɔlɛj]

(consonant + il: avril [avɾil])

[ɛ] é, ê, ë mère [mɛɾə] met, friend

forêt [fɔɾɛ]
Noël [nɔɛl]
e + two or more consonants
e + final c, f, l, t belle [bɛlə]
a/e + front vowel combinations: ɑi, ɑî, ɑie, ɑies,
ɑient, ɑy, ei
All final [ɛ] are semi open [ɛ] (except final -ɑi verb
ending)
[ɛɾ]: ɑmer, cher, diver, fier, hier, hiver, mer, traver,
ver
Final e + double consonant + schwa telle [tɛlə]

[w] ou + vowel alouette [alwɛtə] web, winter

oi is [wa] voici [vwasi]
oy is [waj] joyeux [ʒwajø]

[ɔ] o + pronounced consonant parole [paɾɔlə] talk, ought

au + r laurier [lɔɾje]
Open [ɔ] words album [albɔm], géranium [ʒeɾanjɔm]

[ɥ] u + vowel nuit [nɥi] between wet and yet

suave [sɥavə]
*except in hiatus: tendues [tɑ̃dyə]*

[œ] eu, œu + pronounced consonant fleur [flœɾ] bird (British English)

(except -euse ending)
œ: œil [œj], œillet [œjɛ]

[a] Single ɑ matin [matɛ]̃ trap

Spelling à déjà [deʒa]
Final -ɑs verb ending is [a] boiras [bwaɾa]
Medial emm, the word: solennel [sɔlanɛl] femme [famə]

[ɛ]̃ i, y, ɑi, ei + n, m + consonant or final thym [tɛ]̃ Start with the sound of
(except when i, y, ɑi, ei + n, m is followed by n, m, the “e” in “pet” , then
h, or a vowel) add nasalization by
Final -en(s), verb ending -ient [jɛ]̃ [wɛ]̃ , Final -oin bien [bjɛ]̃ lowering your soft
[wɛ]̃ palate and allowing air
to flow out through
your nose.

[œ̃] un, um + consonant or final parfum [paɾfœ̃] Start with the sound of
 (except when un um is followed by n, m, h, or a the “eu” in “jeune” then
vowel) add nasalization by
lowering your soft
palate and allowing air
to flow out through
your nose.

*Vocalic harmonization: When applied to specific spellings in French, vocalic harmonization closes a vowel to match
the closed [e], [i], or [y] quality of a following syllable. Example: aimer [eme] aimable [ɛmɑblə]

Closed [e] Words

Articles Other words

ces [se] ai [e]

des [de] et [e]
les [le] gai [ge]
mes [me] maison [mezõ]
ses [se] pays [pei]
tes [te] sais [se]
sait [se]
vais [ve]

Rules:

Schwa:
- Final -e and -es (except for final -es of monosyllables les, ses, mes, es…)
- In the sequence: consonant + e + consonant + vowel: devenir
- verb ending - ent
- prefix re-
- fais + vowel
- schwa words: monsieur [məsjø], secret [səkɾɛ], dessous [dəsu], dessus [dəsy]

Consonants:
- Final consonants are silent except for the consonant sounds in the word CaReFuL
- Common exceptions:
- amen, angélus, automne, bane, blane, bœfs, but, Carmen, cerf, clef, clere, fils, flane, Frane, gars, gentil,
hélas, jadis, jone, luth, lys, maïs, œyfs, os, ouest, sens (noun), sept, sourcils, sud, tous (stressed), trone
- Note: Consonants are not doubled in transcription (except initial ill-, imm-, inn-, irr-)
Liaison and Elision
Elison: a final schwa is dropped when followed by an initial vowel.
Liaison: a final consonant is enunciated when followed by an initial vowel word (phonetic changes occur: d,
f, g, s, x become t, v, k, z

Forbidden and Compulsory Liaison

I. Liaison should not be made after a word in the following cases:
1. No liaison following a noun in the singular (See I below)
Le verger est refleuri! [lə vɛɾʒe ɛ ɾəflœɾi] The orchard is flowering again!
2. No liaison following words ending in -rs, -rt and -rd (link the normally sounded v)
See I. below for -rs exception
Le ciel désert est plein d'ennui. [lə sjɛl dezɛɾ ɛ plɛ̃ dɑ̃nɥi] The empty sky is completely carefree.
3. No liaison following et [e]
Un lion et un cheval blanc [œ̃ ljõ e œ̃ ʃəval blɑ̃] A lion and a white horse
4. No liaison following enumerations (phrases that list or specify entities)
Sage, discret, éloquent et entier [saʒə diskɾɛ elɔkɑ̃ e ɑ̃tje] Wise, discreet, eloquent, and whole
5. No liaison following a proper name: Paris est beau! [paɾi ɛ bo] Paris is beautiful!
II. Liaison should not be made before a word in the following cases:
1. No liaison over a breath or rest (except when phrases are linked grammatically)
Je baissai les yeux avec un frisson [ʒə bese lɛz jø avɛk œ̃ fɾisõ] I lowered my eyes with a shiver
2. No liaison before or after interjections hélas [elɑs] (except mais hélas), ô [o] Ah (a) oui (wi]
Ô serments! Ô parfums! ô baisers infinis! [o seɾmɑ̃ o paɾfœ̃ o bezez ɛf̃ ini] O vows! O perfumes! O
infinite kisses!
3. No liaison before an aspirate h (indicated by a dagger)
L'alouette et le vieux thibou [lalwɛt e lə vjø ibu] The lark and the old owl
4. No liaison before numerical words: huit (except as a composite number: dix-huit) and onze, before or
after un / une (when used as a number) and after cent.
J'en vois un [ʒɑ̃ vwa œ̃] I see one / but: sous un arbre [suz œ̃n aɾbɾə] under a tree

COMPULSORY LIAISON
I. Liaison is compulsory in the following cases:
1. Liaison after a plural noun and words that indicate the plural noun (spellings: final -s, -x, and -rs)
Tes yeux étaient plus doux [tɛz jøz etɛ ply du] Your eyes were so sweet
Les lauriers et les cyprès [lɛ lɔɾjez e le sipɾɛ] The laurels and the cypress trees
2. Liaison after an article, adjective, personal pronoun, verb, adverb, preposition, or conjunction.
Mon bien-aimé s'en est allé [mõ bjɛñ eme sɑ̃n ɛt ale] My beloved has gone away
Nasals: When n is linked, bon, moyen and villain lose their nasalization.
Tout ce qui est bon et pur [tu sə ki ɛ bɔn e pyɾ] All that is good and pure