L’alphabet français

Bonjour tout le monde!!! Let’s get familiar with all the 26 letters of the
French alphabet. Mastering the pronunciation of the letters [les lettres in
French] along with the forms they take in different words is always a
challenge for every beginner- their sounds individually as well as how
they are pronounced in a word, in combinations. This is the most
important aspect in the beginning that needs careful listening, practice
and patience to master. One must give attention to pronunciation right
from the start. Otherwise, it becomes complicated in the later part. C’est
parti!!!!! [here we go!!!]

Aa ami (e)/ Asie/ acteur/ aube/ âne/ cinéma

friend / Asia / actor (male) / dawn / donkey / cinema

Bb belle / bravo! / bon / table/ bateau/ bavard

beautiful/ bravo/ good; right/ table/ boat/ talkative

Cc
C followed by vowels e/i/y has a soft sound [s], like---
cinéma, citron, ce, cerf, cygne, cyclone.
lemon/ this or that; it/ stag/ swan/ cyclone

C followed by vowels a/o/u has a hard sound [k],

like---- café, cahier, calme, comique, col, cuir, cultivé
coffee, cafeteria/ notebook/ calm, quiet/ comic; funny/ collar (of garments)/
leather/ cultured or educated
 C followed by h has a sound [sh], like---- chameau,
château, chat, chien, chou. But before r- chrétien [kr]
Camel/ castle/ cat/ dog/ cabbage/ Christian

D d dans/ de/ cadeau/ demain/ madame

in; inside/ of, from/ gift/ tomorrow/ madam, Mrs- greeting a married woman

Ee
The letter e [without accent] at the end of a word is
silent.
salle/ ville/ vie/ homme/ fille/ cire/ lire
room/ city, town/ life/ man/ girl; daughter/wax/ to read (verb)

é: accent aigu/ è: accent grave/ ê: accent circonflexe/ ë: le

tréma
These are the four accents that one finds with the
vowel e. These accents can also be with other vowels
[a, i, o and u] but, usually, in such cases the sound of
the vowel is not changed. Like- [ou] which means or in
English and [où] which means where (question word)
in English.
Accent aigu- étudiant/ café/ cinéma/ école/ bébé/ thé
Student (male) school baby tea
Accent grave- père/ mère/ mètre/ sèche/ crème/ élève
father/ mother/ metre/ dry/ cream/ pupil,student

Accent tréma - Noël/ canoë

Christmas/ canoe (a shallow narrow boat
propelled with a paddle) Accent circonflexe
ê produces the
Accent circonflexe - pêche/ même same sound as è

peach/ same (can be adjective,

adverb and pronoun)
F f faux/ fort/ facile/ cafard/ affable/ France
false/ strong/ easy/ cockroach/ affable, agreeable, gentle/ France

Gg
The letter g followed by vowels e/i has a soft sound,
like—girafe, gilet, genou, manger, nager….
Giraffe/ cardigan/ knee/ to eat/ to swim (verbs)

The letter g followed by vowels a/o/u has a hard sound,

like in English word ‘GO’----- gorge/ garage/ galerie/
guitare/ guide/ garcon
throat/ garage/ gallery/ guitar/ guide/ boy

H h this letter is silent in French. It is sometimes

treated as a vowel and sometimes as a consonant. But
it is never pronounced. H muet – when it is a vowel. H
aspiré --- when it is a consonant.
 homme/ hôtel/ hibou/ habiter/ homard / cahier/ hiver
Hotel/ owl/ to live (verb) / lobster/ notebook, exercise book/ winter

I i cinéma/ ville/ vie/ billet/ isolé

ticket/ isolated

Jj jambe/ jardin/ Japon/ jaune/ jaloux

Leg/ garden/ Japan/ yellow/ jealous

K k kilomètre/ kangourou
kilometre / kangaroo

L l loup/ loupe/ lourd/ lapin/ ballon

wolf/ magnifying glass/ heavy/ rabbit/ ball

M m main/ matin/ pomme/ ami(e)/ madame

Hand/ morning/ apple

N n nuit/ nuage/ nous/ navire/ canne

Night/ cloud/ we- subject pronoun; also object pronoun/ ship/
stick (like- walking stick)

Oo
Pronounced like the English word NOT --- objet/
poste/ gorge/ possible/ col/ hôpital/ homme/ obstiné/
école
Object (thing)/ post office/ possible/hospital/
stubborn, obstinate
When the consonant after this vowel is silent it has a
complete pronunciation just like the sound of the letter
itself. ------ gros/ dos/argot big, large, fat/back/ slang
The sound of the vowel combination ‘oi’ is wa, like---
oiseau/ bois/ roi/ danois/oie bird/ wood/ king/ Danish/ goose
The sound of the vowel combination ‘ou’, like---
rouge/ sous/ douce/ joujou/pour
Red/ under/ soft, sweet, pleasent/ toy/ for- the blue highlighted
words are two very common prepositions

P p parler/ peau/ porte/ poisson

to speak, to talk (verb)/ skin/ door/ fish

Q q quoi/ quartier/quart/quand
what (interrogative pronoun)/ locality, area/ quarter (fraction)/ when
(conjunction; interrogative adverb)

R r garçon/ rue/ rouge/argent/ sortie road/ money/ exit

La cédille- ç, this accent is only used with the consonant c to

maintain the soft [s] sound of the consonant.

Ss
It has two different sounds- [s] and [z] that depends on
its position in a word. When s comes between two
vowels in a word like- saison/ maison/ raison/paisible it
sounds z. But with double s it becomes [s], like-
poisson/ boisson.
 salle/ bus/ passeport/ sans/ sur/ russe
Season/ house/ reason/ peaceful/ beverage/ bus/ passport/ without/ on/ Russian

T t tasse/ trou/ tante/ tôt/ tortue

Cup/ hole/ aunt/ early (adverb)/ tortoise

U u université/ réunion/ nuit/ sur

College, university/ meeting (official), reunion/ night/ on-
preposition, like- on the table (on top of)

V v vélo/ vide/ vrai/ avare/ avenir

bicycle/ empty/ true/ miser, miserly/ future

W w week-end/ wagon/ whisky

Weekend/ carriage, wagon/ whisky

X x xylophone [x: ks] xylophone- a musical instrument

Y y yugoslavie/ yaourt/y Yugoslavia/ yoghurt/ it is a pronoun

Z z zèbre/ zéro/ zoologiste Zebra/ zero/ zoologist

Apart from the meanings given above, the words can

have other meanings, usages and expressions and may
vary according to the context. But, here the very basic
meanings (translations) are given.