The 26 letters of the French alphabet with their names, the accents and the cedilla written on them, and how to spell a word aloud. An accent is part of the word and sometimes tells two words apart: ou, où
Summary
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| Point | Rule | Example | English | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 letters | six vowels, a, e, i, o, u, y, and twenty consonants | yaourt / kilo | yoghurt / kilo | |
| Letter names | each letter has a name; to spell aloud, you say the names | Comment ça s’écrit ? — L, E, A. | How do you spell it? — L, E, A. | |
| Accents on e | é is said /e/; è and ê are said /ɛ/ | été / père | summer / father | |
| Cedilla | ç is said /s/ before a, o, u | ça va / garçon | it's going well / boy | |
| Grave accent on à and ù | it does not change the sound: it tells two words apart | Où es-tu ? / Elle est là. | Where are you? / She is there. | |
| Circumflex and diaeresis | ê, ô mark a sound; ë, ï keep two vowels apart | fête / Noël | party / Christmas | |
| Spelling aloud | you say deux n for a double letter and e accent aigu for an accent | Léa : L, e accent aigu, A. | Léa: L, E acute, A. | |
| Œ | œ is written as one sign and sounds like eu | cœur / sœur | heart / sister | |
| Trap | the accent and the cedilla are always written: without them the word is wrong | un garçon / un café | a boy / a coffee | |
| Trap | the circumflex tells sur from sûr and mur from mûr | Je suis sûr. / Le fruit est mûr. | I'm sure. / The fruit is ripe. |
The alphabet
Nothing in this section is at or below. It starts at A0.
- The alphabet has 26 letters: six vowels, a, e, i, o, u, y, and twenty consonants. ami / yaourtfriend / yoghurt
- The sounds of the letters and letter groups: Pronunciation.
- The letters k and w are rare: they appear in words borrowed from other languages. kilo / week-endkilo / weekend
| Letter | Name | Example | English | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A a | a /a/ | ami | friend | |
| B b | bé /be/ | banane | banana | |
| C c | cé /se/ | café | coffee | |
| D d | dé /de/ | dimanche | Sunday | |
| E e | e /ə/ | enfant | child | |
| F f | effe /ɛf/ | fenêtre | window | |
| G g | gé /ʒe/ | gare | station | |
| H h | hache /aʃ/ | hôtel | hotel | |
| I i | i /i/ | ici | here | |
| J j | ji /ʒi/ | jour | day | |
| K k | ka /ka/ | kilo | kilo | |
| L l | elle /ɛl/ | lait | milk | |
| M m | emme /ɛm/ | maison | house | |
| N n | enne /ɛn/ | nuit | night | |
| O o | o /o/ | orange | orange | |
| P p | pé /pe/ | pain | bread | |
| Q q | qu /ky/ | quatre | four | |
| R r | erre /ɛʁ/ | rue | street | |
| S s | esse /ɛs/ | soleil | sun | |
| T t | té /te/ | table | table | |
| U u | u /y/ | utile | useful | |
| V v | vé /ve/ | vélo | bike | |
| W w | double vé /dubləve/ | week-end | weekend | |
| X x | ix /iks/ | taxi | taxi | |
| Y y | i grec /igʁɛk/ | yaourt | yoghurt | |
| Z z | zède /zɛd/ | zéro | zero |
Accents and the cedilla
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| Mark | Rule | Example | English | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| accent aigu ´ | only on é, which marks /e/, at the end of a syllable | été / café | summer / coffee | |
| accent grave ` | on è, which marks /ɛ/ before a consonant and a silent e, and in très | père / mère / très | father / mother / very | |
| accent grave ` : à, ù | it does not change the sound; it tells two words apart: ou / où, la / là | Où habites-tu ? / Elle est là. | Where do you live? / She is there. | |
| accent circonflexe ^ | on â, ê, î, ô, û; ê marks /ɛ/ and ô marks /o/ | fête / hôtel / île | party / hotel / island | |
| accent circonflexe ^ : û | it also tells apart words that sound the same | Je suis sûr. / Le fruit est mûr. | I'm sure. / The fruit is ripe. | |
| tréma ¨ | on ë, ï: the vowel is said apart from the vowel before it | Noël /nɔɛl/ · maïs /mais/ | Christmas / corn | |
| tréma ¨ : ü, ÿ | rare: they appear mostly in proper names | Saül / L’Haÿ‑les-Roses | Saul / L'Haÿ-les-Roses (a town) | |
| cédille ¸ | only on ç, before a, o, u: it marks /s/ | français / garçon / ça | French / boy / that |
- Capital letters keep their accents. École / À bientôt !School / See you soon!
- For a and à, see Être and avoir.
Spelling a word aloud
Nothing in this section is at or below. It starts at A0.
| Point | Rule | Example | English | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asking | Comment ça s’écrit ? or Comment s’écrit votre nom ? | Comment s’écrit votre nom ? — R, O, U, X. | How is your surname spelled? — R, O, U, X. | |
| Saying the letters | you say the name of each letter, one after the other | Marie : M, A, R, I, E. | Marie: M, A, R, I, E. | |
| Double letter | you say deux + the letter | Annette : A, deux N, E, deux T, E. | Annette: A, double N, E, double T, E. | |
| Accent and cedilla | you say the letter, then the name of the accent: accent aigu, accent grave, accent circonflexe, tréma, cédille | Léa : L, e accent aigu, A. / Garçon : G, A, R, c cédille, O, N. | Léa: L, E acute, A. / Garçon: G, A, R, C cedilla, O, N. | |
| Hyphen and apostrophe | you say tiret for the hyphen and apostrophe for the apostrophe | Marie-Anne : M, A, R, I, E, tiret, A, deux N, E. | Marie-Anne: M, A, R, I, E, hyphen, A, double N, E. | |
| E-mail address | point for the dot, arobase for @, tiret du bas for _ | lea point roux arobase mail point fr | [email protected] |
The letters œ and æ
Nothing in this section is at or below. It starts at A1.
- The œ is written as one sign, with the o and the e joined. cœur / sœur / œilheart / sister / eye
- It sounds like eu: /œ/ before a pronounced consonant, /ø/ otherwise. œuf /œf/ · vœu /vø/egg / wish
- The æ is rare: it appears in a few Latin expressions and sounds /e/. et cætera / ex æquoand so on / tied (in a ranking)
Typical errors
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| Wrong | Right | Rule | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| garcon | garçon | before a, o, u, a c without a cedilla sounds /k/; the cedilla gives /s/ | |
| cafe | café | the accent is part of the word: café is always written with é | |
| Ou habites-tu ? | Où habites-tu ? | où asks about a place; ou means “one or the other” | |
| Mon pére est là. | Mon père est là. | before a consonant and a silent e, write è: père, mère, frère | |
| Noel est en décembre. | Noël est en décembre. | the diaeresis shows that o and e are said separately: Noël /nɔɛl/ | |
| A bientôt ! | À bientôt ! | a capital letter keeps its accent: À bientôt, École | |
| Je suis sur de moi. | Je suis sûr de moi. | sûr (certain) takes a circumflex; sur is the preposition | |
| coeur | cœur | cœur is written with the sign œ, not with o and e apart |