How are the letters pronounced in French?
As a general rule, remember that the last letter is not usually pronounced, it is silent , which can sometimes be strange. Also, don’t forget that there are exceptions. Below you can see how to pronounce the letters in French.
By practicing speaking, you will progress quickly.
French vowels
Although Spanish only uses five, French uses six vowels, counting on the «y»:
A: it is said as in “bow” or “cow”.
E: like the “e” sound for “evolution.”
I: like the “i” in “iris”.
Or: like the “o” in the word “motorcycle.”
U: is always pronounced as “flee” or “hoot”, but remember that its sound is very similar to the French complex of “ou”.
Y: used like the “curry” sound, but putting the voice punch on the vowel.
French consonants
The French alphabet has a total of 21 consonants (counting on the letter “w”, which is a loan from English):
B and V: unlike in Spanish, whose sound is very similar, French distinguishes between both sounds. While the “b” would be the same sound as our consonant, the sound of the “v” is pronounced by blowing the air out while our lower lip brushes against the upper teeth, more similar to English.
C: there are practically no differences. If it comes before a consonant, as in “car,” it is pronounced that way. However, if the “c” comes before “e” or “i”, it is pronounced like our “c”, but inserting the letter between the roof of the mouth and the back of our upper teeth. In this way, a more hissing sound than our “c” is formed.
D: as in «Madrid».
F: same pronunciation (flower, favor, etc.).
G: In French there is no ” gi ro” sound, so it is the same sound that we reproduce with the “g” and the vowels “a”, “o” or “u”.
H: same silent pronunciation.
J: different pronunciation. For them, the “j” sound is more like what we would make a “y”, as in “yoga” (for example, “jour”).
K: as in Spanish with «kiwi» or «kayak».
L: as in Spanish with “liar,” “liquid,” “wash,” and so on.
M: like the “m” sound from “Marseille”, “table”, “hand”, and so on.
N: it is said like the Spanish «n» («ship», «no», «boyfriend», etc.).
P: same pronunciation as in Spanish («bread», «pear», «door», etc.).
Q: the same sound is used as in “quiche”, “who” or “what”, but in French it does not have to be followed by a “u”, remember that.
A: its «r» if it varies in sound. It is pronounced with the throat as in «rouge» or «revoir»
S: Unlike our flat “s” sound, the French make the sound with a much more hissy tone, touching the palate with the tongue, as in “sortir.”
T: same pronunciation as in Spanish with the terms «darkness», «treat» or «treaty».
W: since it is a letter that comes from English, the sound is the same in both Spanish and French, because it is a loan (the same as in “Washington” or “whiskey”).
X: French does not have the “s” sound that we Spanish reproduce. For this language, the sound is still the “X” for “examination” or “axial.”
Z: a sound very similar to the “c” we discussed earlier, but with the tongue slightly between the teeth, touching the back of the upper teeth. An example could be “zinc”, whose pronunciation you can check in Google Translate. How are the letters pronounced in French?