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Lesson 1: The French Alphabet

Lesson 1 : The French alphabet – Première leçon : L’alphabet français

 

The French alphabet has the same 26 letters as the English one. But the pronunciation can be very different due to intracies, silent letters, multiple pronunciations for a same letter. In French there is also accent and cedilla. But we will see this part later.

Here is a great tab to help you to strat with the very basics of the French language

French alphabet – alphabet français

In order to teach you the French name of the 26 letters, we have to use the « é » as you know it in the word fiancé and the letter « i » as it is pronunced in French (as  in the « e » English, for example in the word victory). Those French names are very important if you have to spell your name in any situation.

Letter French name Pronunciation in French Example Translation
A,a a A as in English father Abricot Apricot
B,b B as in English (but no air expelled) Banane Banana
C,c S as in English place Cerise Cherry
    K as in English cat Colle Glue
D,d D as in English Dinde Turkey
E,e euh E as in English towel Exemple Example
F,f èf F as in English Fleur Flower
G,g G as in English Garage Gazon Lawn
    J as in English Garage Gel Frost
H,h ash H as in English but always silent Haricot Bean
I,i i I as in English to be Ile Island
J,j ji as in English jungle but don’t pronunce the « d » Jupe Skirt
K,k ka K as in English Kilomètre Kilometer
L,l èl L as in English Lit Bed
M,m èm M as in English Maison House
N,n èn N as in English Non No
O,o o O as in English hole Os Bone
P,p P as in English (but no air expelled) Place Place
Q,q qu K as in English cat Quelques Some
R,r ère R pronunce very strongly as J in Spanish Robe Dress
S,s èsse S as in English school Sucre Sugar
T,t T as in English Thé Tea
U,u u very specific voyel, as in vertu Un One
V,v V as in English Voiture Car
W,w double Vé V as in English victory Wagon (pronunce Vagon) Wagon
X,x iks X as in English Xylophone Xylophone
Y,y i grec Y as in English Yeux Eyes
Z,z Zed Z as in English Zone Area