1. French Alphabet & Pronunciation
French Alphabet and Pronunciation

2. French Alphabet and Pronunciation
a = ahh
b = bay
c = say
d = day
e = euh
f = eff
g = jay
h = ash
i = eeeee
j = jee
k = ka
l = ell
m = em
n = en
o = oh
p = pay
q = kuh
r = air
s = ess
t = tay
u = ew
v = vay
w = dooble vay
x = eeks
y = eeee grec
Z = zed
French Alphabet and Pronunciation

3. Why do we need to learn the alphabet?
Because the letters of the alphabet are like the music notes of the French language. Knowing their names and the sound they make enable you to read, to speak, and to write in order to communicate.
French Alphabet and Pronunciation

4. Listen to the Alphabet song!
La chanson de l’alphabet
French Alphabet and Pronunciation

5. French Alphabet and Pronunciation
Read the song
A, B, C, D, E, F, G,
H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P,
Q, R, S, T, U, V,
W, Y, Z.
MAINTENANT, JE LES CONNAIS
TOUTES LES LETTRES DE L’ALPHABET
(now, I know them,
All the letters of the alphabet)
French Alphabet and Pronunciation

6. Sound of the French Alphabet
Our goal is to learn to recognize the 36 French sounds in order to be independent reader.
French Alphabet and Pronunciation

7. Comparison to the English Alphabet
You may notice some similarities
F, L, M, N, S, Z sound the same
B, C, D, P, T,V nearly sound the same
A, E, G, H, I, J, K, O, Q, R, U, W, X sound different.
 So, focus on learning what is different and practice, practice…
French Alphabet and Pronunciation

8. French Alphabet and Pronunciation
Important Points
26 letters like in English
Pay attention to A, E, G, H, I, J, K, O, Q, R, U, W, X as they sound different
6 vowels (voyelles): A, E, I, O, U, Y
20 consonants (consonnes).
Don’t mix the name of the letters of the alphabet and the sound they make.
French Alphabet and Pronunciation

9. French Alphabet and Pronunciation
Final consonants are usually silent: Paris (pa-ree).
However, the consonants C, R, F & L are usually pronounced at the end of words.
French Alphabet and Pronunciation

10. Common exceptions where the last letter can be heard include:
Août (August)
Cinq (five)
Sept (seven) (can hear ‘t’ but not the ‘p’!!)
Huit (eight)
Neuf (nine)
French Alphabet and Pronunciation

11. French Alphabet and Pronunciation
Accents
Some but not all accents can change the sound of the letter and or the meaning of a word. The main ones are:
É accent aigu
È accent grave
Ê accent circonflexe
Ë trema
Ç cedille
French Alphabet and Pronunciation

12. French Alphabet and Pronunciation
‘ç’ (cedille) changes the ‘C’ (K) into an ‘S’ sound for C followed by A, O or U. C already makes the ‘S’ sound followed by ‘E’ or ‘I’
Français (French)
Garçon (boy)
Leçon (lesson)
Ciel (sky)
C’est (it’s)
Ce n’est pas (it’s not)
Glace (ice cream)
Citron (lemon)
French Alphabet and Pronunciation

13. ‘h’ is not pronounced hôtel (ohtel), homard (omar) (lobster).
Horrible (horrible)
Henri (Henry)
Hôpital (hospital)
French Alphabet and Pronunciation

14. French Alphabet and Pronunciation
‘q’ or ‘qu’ has a hard ‘k’ sound e.g. quinze (sounds like ‘cans’) (fifteen)
Quatre (four)
Quatorze (fourteen) ‘cat oars’
Qui (who)
Quitter (to leave – can also say ‘partir’)
Cinq (five)
French Alphabet and Pronunciation

15. French Alphabet and Pronunciation
‘r’ is said at the back of the throat with the tongue at the bottom of the mouth (in English the ‘r’ makes the tongue go up). It sounds like a softer version of a cat trying to get rid of a furball.
Travaille (work)
Garage (garage)
Carottes (carrots)
Tranche (slice)
Hiver (winter)
Printemps (spring)
Réserver (to reserve)
French Alphabet and Pronunciation

16. French Alphabet and Pronunciation
‘th’ is pronounced just ‘t’ which is why French native speakers have a lot of problems with our th and you may hear them say ‘zat was ze zeory on zursday ze forz’ instead of ‘that was the theory on Thursday the fourth’ although I haven’t heard this sentence too often!
Thé (tea)
Thierry (Terry or Thierry as in the footballer Thierry Henri)
Cathédrale (cathedral)
Théâtre (theatre)
Thon (tuna)
French Alphabet and Pronunciation

17. ‘u’ = oo e.g. sur (soor) (on)
Jus (juice)
Université (university)
Rugby (rugby)
Jupe (skirt)
Musique (music)
French Alphabet and Pronunciation

18. ‘ui’ (wee) e.g. huit (weet)
Huître (oyster)
Huile (oil)
Cuire (to cook)
Suivre (to follow)
Lui (him)
Nuit (night)
Puis-je? (may I?)
Puis-je cuire les huîtres avec l’huile pour lui cette nuit? = May I cook the oysters with oil for him this night?!
French Alphabet and Pronunciation

19. French Alphabet and Pronunciation
Game
NAME THE LETTER ON THE BOARD U W R H
SPELL THE FOLLOWING WORDS
PAPA
ARBRE
SPELL YOUR NAME
French Alphabet and Pronunciation

20. French Alphabet and Pronunciation
Bravo!
French Alphabet and Pronunciation