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Lesson6 - Pronunciation (Vowels)
Lesson6 - Pronunciation (Vowels)
Lesson6 - Pronunciation (Vowels)
1. Vowels
- basics :
a e i o u
a:
ananas
Canada
salade
avocat
la
pomme de terre
i:
gris
ami
kiwi
il
dix
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ill : ille sound like " iy" gn : " ni " : no i is written, but gn sounds like " ni "
fille champagne
famille oignon
vieille
y is similar to i : stylo
o: closed " o " o : open " o " the middle of a word followed by 2
consonants
joli pomme
gros grosse
stylo bonne
vélo carotte
Thomas
u:
tu
une
Julie
jupe
pull
- accents :
é: è:
vélo bike mère mother
café coffee père father
Rémi très very
bière beer
The following accents make no sound difference, they are used to make distinction between
identical words. They are not very common.
ê: forêt forest
être to be
ô: hôpital hospital
â: pâtes pasta, noodles
û : mûre blackberry
î: île island
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- several vowels : groups 2 or 3 vowels fo
ai , ei : lait, fraise milk, strawberry
treize, seize thirteen, sixteen
au, eau : jaune, aussi yello, also
beau, gâteau beautiful, cake
i u ou
- nasals :
4 nasal sounds : an , in, un, on vowel+n , vowel+m : all of them sound the same
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on melon , blond melon, blond
om concombre cucumber
Sum up. They are around 16 different vowel sounds, but many different ways to write them.
The difficulty is to read, recognize the sounds in words and pronounce them.
Nasals:
an, en an, am, en , em grand, blanc, anglais, français
hamburger, champignon
piment, argent,
empire, emploi
in in, im, ain, aim, ein, raisin, vin, cinq, vingt
important
train, américain,
faim
ceinture
on on, om bon, citron, blond, ont, sont
concombre
un un,um (similar ton in) Brun, lundi
parfum
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2. Exercises
table table
cinéma cinema
céréale cereal
fête fest
secret secret
aimer to like/love
moto bike
gros big, large
beau bautiful
agneau lamb
restaurant restaurant
beaucoup a lot
port port
grogner grunt
hôtel hostel
hôpital hospital
papier paper
camion truck
cuisine cuisine
citrouille pumpkin
lentille
travaille work
cuillère spoon
Louis Louis
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-2. Translate in French
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3. Text - Qu’est-ce qu’on mange ce soir ?
Émilie : Qu’est-ce qu’on mange ce soir ? - What are we having to eat tonight ?
Thomas: Ce soir on mange une pizza -Tonight we’re having a pizza and a
et un gâteau. cake.
Émilie : Est-ce que tu commandes la pizza ? - Will you order the pizza ?
Thomas: Non, ce soir je cuisine la pizza. - No, tonight I ‘m cooking the pizza.
Émilie : Tu cuisines aussi le gâteau ? - Will you also cook the cake ?
Thomas: Non, j’achète le gâteau à la boulangerie. - No, I will buy the cake at the bakery
Émilie : Est-ce que Rémi aime les gâteaux ? - Does Rémi like cakes ?
Thomas : Peut-être, j’appelle Rémi. - Maybe, I’m calling Rémi.
Émilie : D’accord, ça marche ! - Allright, it works ! (It sounds good).
Vocabulary :
non no soir (m) evening gâteau (m) cake
ça it pizza (f) pizza
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4. More Grammar
-more ways to say “é “:
In addition to é, ai, ei , there are a lot of ways to write “ é ” : -er, -es, -est, -et, -ed, -ez .
Those ones are mostly in verbe, they all sound the same :
é eu o
close sounds : -ez -et eu -ot , -os, ...
-er -es
-ai ei
-aise -aine..
-eur , -euse, .. -orte , -onne, ..
-elle -enne
open sounds : è
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