French Alphabet and Pronunciation: How to Pronounce Every Letter

Key takeaways

• The French alphabet has the same 26 letters as English but almost every vowel is pronounced differently, and several consonants have sounds with no English equivalent.
• French has five accent marks that change pronunciation or distinguish meaning: l’accent aigu (é), l’accent grave (è, à, ù), l’accent circonflexe (â, ê, î, ô, û), le tréma (ë, ï), and la cédille (ç).
• Silent letters are a defining feature of French: the final consonant is silent in most words (grand, petit, vous), and many vowel combinations produce single sounds (eau = /o/, ou = /u/).
• Liaison connects the final consonant of one word to the initial vowel of the next: les enfants is pronounced /le-ZAN-faN/, not /le AN-faN/.

One of the most common early frustrations in French is the gap between how words look and how they sound. French spelling is largely historical: it preserves letters that were once pronounced but are now silent, and it uses vowel combinations that bear no obvious relationship to their pronunciation.

Understanding the system behind these patterns makes reading French aloud far less unpredictable.

This guide covers every letter of the French alphabet with its name and pronunciation, the accent marks and what they do, the key sounds that have no English equivalent, the silent letter rules, and how liaison works in practice.

italki has connected 10M+ learners with teachers across 150+ languages since 2007, including French teachers who focus specifically on pronunciation and help learners hear the difference between sounds before they can produce them. Find a French tutor and spend a lesson just on the sounds that are blocking your French from sounding natural.

The French alphabet: names and sounds

The French alphabet has 26 letters. The names of the letters (how you say them when reciting the alphabet) differ significantly from English.

Letter	French name	Approximate sound of letter name
A	a	ah
B	bé	bay
C	cé	say
D	dé	day
E	e	uh (like the e in butter)
F	effe	eff
G	gé	zhay
H	ache	ash
I	i	ee
J	ji	zhee
K	ka	kah
L	elle	ell
M	emme	em
N	enne	en
O	o	oh
P	pé	pay
Q	ku	kew
R	erre	air (with the French r)
S	esse	ess
T	té	tay
U	u	like German ü, no English equivalent
V	vé	vay
W	double vé	doo-bluh vay
X	ixe	eeks
Y	i grec	ee grek
Z	zède	zed

The French u is one of the most important sounds to practise early: it is produced by shaping the mouth to say ee but then rounding the lips as if to say oo. No English sound is equivalent.

Vowels and vowel combinations

French has more vowel sounds than English, and many are produced from vowel combinations rather than single letters.

Single vowels

Letter	Sound	Example
a	ah (open, at the back of the mouth)	chat (cat)
e	depends on position: uh mid-word, silent at end	le, me, que
é	closed ay sound	café, été
è, ê	open e, like e in bed	père, fête
i	ee	livre, midi
o	oh (can be open or closed)	mot, porte
u	no English equivalent (ee-shape, oo-lips)	lune, rue
y	usually ee, like i	style, dynamique

Vowel combinations (the most important)

Combination	Sound	Example
ai, ei	open e, like e in bed	faire, neige
au, eau	oh	chaud, beau, eau
eu, oeu	no English equivalent (round lips, say ay)	feu, coeur
ou	oo (like in moon)	vous, tout
oi	wah	moi, voix
ui	wee	nuit, suite
in, im, ain, ein, un	nasal vowel (see nasal vowels section)	vin, main, un
on, om	nasal vowel	bon, ombre
an, am, en, em	nasal vowel	dans, temps

The ou/u distinction is critical: vous (you, formal) has the ou sound (/vu/); vu (seen) has the French u sound. Confusing them produces different words.

A French language tutor can make the difference between these sounds audible in real time. Learners often cannot hear u vs. ou at first because English does not distinguish them, and a teacher can produce minimal pair drills until the distinction becomes clear.

Consonants that differ from English

Most French consonants are similar to English, but several have important differences.

Consonant	French behaviour	Example
c	/s/ before e, i, y; /k/ before a, o, u	ceci (say-see), café (ka-fay)
ç	always /s/	garçon, façade
ch	/sh/ (never /ch/ as in English chair)	chocolat, chambre
g	/zh/ before e, i, y; /g/ before a, o, u	genre (zhon-ruh), gare (gar)
gn	/ny/ (like Spanish ñ)	agne, champagne
h	always silent in French	hôtel, homme
j	/zh/ (like the s in measure)	je, jardin
ll	usually /y/ (after ill); sometimes /l/	famille (fa-MEE-yuh)
q (qu)	/k/ (the u is silent)	que, qui
r	guttural, produced at the back of the throat	rue, rouge
s	/s/ between consonant/vowel; /z/ between vowels	sac vs. maison
th	/t/ (not /th/ as in English)	thé, théâtre
w	/v/ in French words; /w/ in imported words	wagon vs. week-end
x	/gz/ or /ks/ depending on position	exact, taxi

The French r is the consonant that requires the most specific production practice. It is produced by vibrating the back of the tongue against the soft palate, a position that feels counterintuitive to English speakers who produce an English /r/ with the tip of the tongue. Describing the sound is less useful than hearing and reproducing it in conversation with a teacher, especially because the same pronunciation pressure appears in many difficult words in French.

Accent marks and special characters

French uses five accent marks, each with a specific role.

Accent	Name	Function	Example
é	accent aigu	marks the closed /e/ sound	café, été, bébé
è	accent grave (on e)	marks the open /e/ sound	père, mère, après
à, ù	accent grave (on a, u)	distinguishes meaning, not pronunciation	à (to) vs a (has)
â, ê, î, ô, û	accent circonflexe	historically marked a lost s; sometimes changes vowel quality	fête, hôtel, île
ë, ï	tréma	marks vowels that are pronounced separately	Noël, naïf
ç	cédille	makes c produce /s/ before a, o, u	garçon, français

The tréma (ë, ï) indicates that two adjacent vowels are not a combination but are pronounced separately: Noël is /no-EL/, not a blended diphthong. Naïf is /na-EEF/.

Silent letters: the main rules

French has a large number of silent letters, particularly at the ends of words. The rules are consistent enough to become predictable.

Final consonants are usually silent:

Most words ending in a consonant do not pronounce that consonant:

• grand /graN/, the d is silent
• petit /puh-TEE/, the t is silent
• vous /vu/, the s is silent
• beaucoup /bo-KU/, the p is silent

Exceptions: The consonants C, R, F, and L are often pronounced at the end of words. The mnemonic CaReFuL captures these four.

• lac /lak/, c pronounced
• mer /mair/, r pronounced
• chef /shef/, f pronounced
• sel /sel/, l pronounced

Silent h: The h in French is always silent. However, there is a distinction:

• Aspirate h: the word behaves as if it starts with a consonant (no liaison, no elision): le hibou (not l’hibou)
• Mute h: the word behaves as if it starts with a vowel (liaison and elision apply): l’homme, les hommes /le-ZOM/

Silent e (e caduc / e muet): The final e in French words is generally silent: rose /roz/, table /tabl/. Within words, an unstressed e in a non-final syllable is often dropped in spoken French.

Nasal vowels

French nasal vowels are produced by allowing air to pass through the nose while the mouth is in a vowel position. They are one of the most distinctive features of French sound, and no English equivalent exists.

Written form	Nasal vowel	Example
an, am, en, em	/aN/ (like on in bond, nasalised)	dans, temps, enfant
in, im, ain, aim, ein, un	/aN/ or /EN/ (the two are merging in modern French)	vin, main, un, pain
on, om	/oN/	bon, ombre, maison

Important: When nasal vowels are followed by another vowel or a double n/m, the nasalisation disappears:

• bon /boN/ is nasal
• bonne /bon/ is not nasal (double n removes nasalisation)
• une /yn/, the u is nasal
• une idée, the liaison adds a /n/ sound but the u is still nasalised

Liaison

Liaison is the pronunciation of an otherwise silent final consonant when the next word begins with a vowel or mute h. It is one of the features that makes French sound like a continuous flow rather than separate words.

Obligatory liaison (always required):

Context	Example	Pronunciation
Article + noun	les enfants	/le-ZAN-faN/
Adjective + noun	les petits enfants	/le puh-TEE-ZAN-faN/
Pronoun + verb	nous avons	/nu-ZA-voN/
One-syllable preposition + noun	en Angleterre	/AN-nAN-gluh-tair/

Forbidden liaison (never made):

Context	Example	No liaison
Noun singular + verb	le chat aime	no liaison on chat
et (and) + vowel	Paul et Anna	never liaison after et
Before words with aspirate h	les haricots	no liaison

The liaison consonant changes sound: a final s or x is pronounced /z/ in liaison (les enfants); a final d is pronounced /t/ (grand ami = /graN-ta-MEE/). These links between spelling and connected speech are also part of why French listening practice matters: learners have to recognise the sound that is actually spoken, not only the letters on the page.

Getting pronunciation right before bad habits form

Pronunciation errors in French tend to become permanent if they are not corrected early. The French r, the vowel u, the nasal vowels, and silent letter patterns are the four areas where early learners form habits that are extremely difficult to undo later.

italki has 30,000+ teachers across 150+ languages, including qualified French teachers who specialize in pronunciation work for English speakers. Find an online French pronunciation tutor and spend the first lesson recording yourself and comparing your production to a native model. 

FAQ

How many letters are in the French alphabet?

26 letters, the same as English. However, French also uses five accent marks (accent aigu, accent grave, accent circonflexe, tréma, cédille) that modify certain letters.

Is H always silent in French?

Yes, h is always silent as a consonant. However, there is a distinction between mute h (which allows liaison and elision: l’homme, les hommes /le-ZOM/) and aspirate h (which blocks them: le hibou, not l’hibou). Both are phonetically silent, the difference is grammatical.

Why are so many letters silent at the end of French words?

French spelling largely reflects medieval pronunciation. Many final consonants that were once pronounced have become silent over centuries, but the spelling was not updated to reflect this. The result is a spelling system that is largely historical rather than phonetic.

What is the French r?

The French r is a voiced uvular fricative: produced by allowing the back of the tongue to vibrate against the uvula (the soft palate at the very back of the mouth). It sounds like a gentle gargling. It has no equivalent in English and requires specific production practice.

What is liaison in French?

Liaison is the pronunciation of an otherwise silent final consonant when the following word begins with a vowel or mute h. Les enfants is pronounced /le-ZAN-faN/ because the s of les becomes /z/ before the vowel of enfants. Some liaisons are obligatory, some optional, and some forbidden.