French Grammar: Consonants and Consonant Sounds

Posted by LEAF Architect on Wednesday, May 28, 2014 · Leave a Comment

French Grammar: Consonants and Consonant Sounds
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Identify:

French Grammar: Consonants and Consonant Sounds
la grammaire française: les consonnes et les sons des consonnes

Understanding consonants (les consonnes) and consonant sounds is an important part of the French language. You need them to read, write, and speak French well. Many parts of French depend greatly on getting consonant sounds right, so listen carefully!

Study:

French Consonants (les consonnes) play an important role in correctly reading, writing, speaking, and understanding French! Learning to enunciate consonants well can help you speak more like a native French speaker.

As in English, when French consonants are spoken, air flow is interrupted or partially blocked by the position of the tongue, teeth, and/or lips.

The French alphabet contains the same consonants as the English alphabet. The sounds of these consonants are mostly similar to their English counterparts, although there are a few French consonant sounds that are pronounced quite differently than they are in English.

Sometimes a misspoken consonant can completely change the meaning of a word! Listen carefully to the audio examples in the “Explore” section of this lesson, and repeat the way that the consonants are pronounced. Your pronunciation will improve over time, as long as you practice!

Final Consonants:

Most final consonants in French are silent, not pronounced. However, final c, r, f, and l usually are pronounced. Use the consonants in the English word ‘C a R e F u L’ in order to help you to remember to pronounce final c, r, f, and l.

avec (‘ah-VECK’) : with
bonjour (‘bohn-ZHOOR’) : hello
neuf (‘nuff’) : nine
animal (‘ah-nee-MAHL’) : animal

Single Consonant Sounds:

C : The consonant ‘C’ may have either a hard or soft sound, depending on what letter comes after it.

When ‘C’ is followed by ‘a’’, ‘o’, ‘u’, or a consonant other than ‘h’, it has a hard sound – like the k sound of the English word kite. When ‘C’ comes at the end of a word, it is usually pronounced (also like the k sound of the English word kite).

Canada (kah-nah-DAH) : Canada
école (ay-KOHL) : school
culture (kool-TOOR) :culture
crayon (kray-OHn) : pencil
avec (ah-VECK) : with
tabac (tah-BAHK) : tobacco

When ‘C’ is followed by ‘e’, ‘i’, or ‘y’, it has a soft sound, like the s sound of the English word so. Note that ‘Ç’ also always has this same s sound.

recette (ruh-SETT) : recipe
ici (ee-SEE) : here
cyberespace (see-bayr-ess-PAHSS) : cyberspace
français (frahn-SAY) : French
garçon (gahr-SOHn) : boy

G : The consonant ‘G’ may have either a hard or soft sound, depending on what letter comes after it.

When ‘G’ is followed by ‘a’’, ‘o’, ‘u’, or a consonant other than ‘n’, it has a hard sound – like the g sound of the English word good.

Note that ‘GU+vowel’ is also always pronounced like this hard g – never like gw!

gaspiller (gahss-pee-YAY) : to waste
gourmet (goor-MAY) : gourmet
aigu (eh-GOO) : sharp
ongle (OHNG-luh) : fingernail
vague (vahg) : wave
guide (geed) : guide
Guyane (gee-AHN) : Guyana

When ‘G’ is followed by ‘e’, ‘i’, or ‘y’, it has a soft sound, like the s sound of the English word treasure.

rouge (roozh) : red
gilet (zhee-LAY) : vest
gymnase (zheem-NAHZ) : gymnasium

H : The French consonant ‘H’ is usually silent. In French, a silent ‘H’ is called an ‘H’ muet. Words that begin with an ‘H’ must start with a vowel sound.

huit (weet) : eight
Henri (ahn-REE) : Henry
l’hiver (lee-VAYR) : the winter
l’horloge (lohr-LOHZH) : the clock

In some French words that begin with letter ‘H’, that ‘H’ is not silent, but it’s not pronounced, either. It’s called an aspirated ‘H’ (‘H’ aspiré). In French words that begin with ‘H’ aspiré, the ‘H’ is not pronounced, but there is no liaison and no élision. (See the lesson on Basic French Pronunciation for more information about liaison and élision.)

la hachette (lah ah-SHETT) : the hatchet
le héro (luh ay-ROH) : the hero
le hobby (luh oh-BEE) : the hobby

J : The French ‘J’ always sounds like the s in the English word treasure.

Jacques (zhahk) : James
jamais (zhah-MAY) : never
je (zhuh) : I
joli (zhoh-LEE) : pretty
préjugé (pray-zhoo-ZHAY) : biased

R : Of all the consonants, the French ‘R’ is the most radically different from its English counterpart. In English, the letter ‘R’ is pronounced at the front of the mouth with rounded lips. The French ‘R’ is pronounced at the back of the throat (as if you were clearing your throat), with the tip of your tongue against your bottom front teeth.

rarement (rahr-MAHn) : rarely
la Renaissance (lah ruh-neh-SAHNss) : the Renaissance
Robert (roh-BAYR) : Robert
la rue (lah ROO) : the street

NOTE: When a French infinitive verb ends in ‘ER’, the ‘R’ is silent. Final ‘ER’ is always pronounced ay, like in the English word day.

chanter (shahn-TAY) : to sing
danser (dahn-SAY) : to dance
parler (pahr-LAY) : to speak / to talk
travailler (trah-vah-YAY) : to work

S : The consonant ‘S’ is almost never pronounced when it is the last letter of a French word. Otherwise, the French consonant ‘S’ has two different sounds.

Usually, the French consonant ‘S’ usually has the sound of s like in the English word so. This occurs : (a) when ‘S’ is the first letter of a word; (b) when ‘S’ comes before another consonant; (c) when ‘S’ comes after another consonant; (d) in the combination ‘SC’; (e) in the combination ‘SS’.

santé (sahn-TAY) : health
sportif (spohr-TEEF) : athletic
bonsoir (bohn-SWAHR) : good evening / goodnight
sciences (see-AHNSS) : science
dessin (dess-An) : design

NOTE: In the combination -TION, the ‘T’ also has the sound of s like in the English word so.

attention (ah-tahn-see-OHn) : attention
nation (nah-see-OHn) : nation
prononciation (proh-nohn-see-ah-see-OHn) : pronunciation

The French consonant ‘S’ can also have the sound of z like in the English word zoo. This occurs : (a) when ‘S’ falls between two vowels; (b) in a liaison.

musée (moo-ZAY) : museum
télévision (tay-lay-vee-zee-OHn) : television
voisin (vwah-ZAn) : neighbor
les animaux (lay-zah-nee-MOH) : the animals
elles ont (ell- ZOHn) : they (feminine) have

X : The French consonant ‘X’ has the sound ks, like in the English word taxi.

excellent (eks-sell-AHn) : excellent
hexagone (eks-ah-GOHN) : hexagon
mixte (meekst) : mixed

When it comes at the end of a word, though, the letter ‘X’ is usually not pronounced.

deux (duh) : two
roux (roo) : redheaded
vieux (vee-uh) : old

Sounds of Consonant and Consonant-Vowel Blends:

CH : The French consonant blend ‘CH’ has the sound of sh, like in the English word machine.

chanter (shahn-TAY) : to sing
acheter (ah-shuh-TAY) : to buy
chien (shee-EHn) : dog
chocolat (shoh-koh-LAH) : chocolate
parachute (pah-rah-SHOOT) : parachute

GN : The French consonant blend ‘GN’ has the sound of ni, like in the English word onion.

compagnie (kohm-pahn-YEE) : company
espagnol (eh-spahn-YOHL) : Spanish
ligne (LEEN-yuh) : line
magnifique (mahn-yee-FEEK) : wonderful

IL : When it comes after a vowel, the French vowel-consonant blend ‘IL’ often has the sound of y, like in the English word yes.

détail (day-TAH-yuh) : detail
oeil (UH-yuh) : eye
soleil (soh-LAY-yuh) : sun
travail (trah-VAH-yuh) : job

ILL : The French vowel-consonant blend ‘ILL’ also often has the sound of y, like in the English word yes.

famille (fah-MEE-yuh) : family
gentille (zhahn-TEE-yuh) : nice
merveilleux (mayr-vay-YUH) : wonderful
travailler (trah-vah-YAY) : to work

EXCEPTIONS: ‘ILL’ has the sound of the English word eel in these words:

mille (meel) : thousand
million (meel-YOHn) : million
tranquille (trahn-KEEL) : quiet / peaceful
tranquillement (trahn-keel-MAHn) : quietly / peacefully
ville (veel) : city / town
village (veel-AHZH) : village

QU : The French consonant-vowel blend ‘QU’ (as well as plain old ‘Q’ all by itself) has the sound of k, like in the English word kite. Unlike in English, the French ‘QU’ NEVER has the sound of kw (like in the English word queen).

cinquante-cinq (san-kahnt-SANK) : fifty-five
quarante-quatre (kah-rahnt-KAH-truh) : forty-four
lequel (luh-KELL) : which
qu’est-ce que c’est (kess-kuh-SAY) : what
Québec (kay-BECK) : Quebec

TH : The French consonant blend ‘TH’ ALWAYS has the sound of t, like in the English word tee. French has no equivalent to the voiced English sound th like in the English word there or to the unvoiced English sound th like in the English word with.

bibliothèque (beeb-lee-oh-TECK) : library
mathématiques (mah-tay-mah-TEEK) : mathematics
théâtre (tay-AHT-ruh) : theater
Thomas (toh-MAH) : Thomas