# Liaison and Elision

https://langs123.com/en/french/bases/liaison-elision/
CEFR A1–A2 · 2026-10-24 · CC BY 4.0, langs123 contributors (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

> Elision replaces the vowel of a short word with an apostrophe before a vowel; liaison makes a silent consonant heard before a vowel. Before a vowel or a mute h, **le**, **la**, **je**, **ne**, **de** and **ce** lose their vowel: l’ami, j’ai, c’est

## Summary

| Point | Rule | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Elision | before a vowel or a mute h: **le** / **la** → **l’**, **je** → **j’**, **ne** → **n’**, **de** → **d’**, **ce** → **c’** | l’ami / j’ai faim | the friend / I'm hungry |
| Elision, continued | **me** → **m’**, **te** → **t’**, **se** → **s’**, **que** → **qu’**; **si** → **s’** before **il** and **ils** only | Je t’aime. / S’il vous plaît. | I love you. / Please. |
| Liaison | a silent consonant is said before a vowel: **s** / **x** / **z** → /z/; **t** / **d** → /t/; **n** → /n/ | le**s** amis /lezami/ · gran**d** arbre /gʁɑ̃taʁbʁ/ | the friends / a big tree |
| Required liaison | article or adjective and noun, pronoun and verb, short word and word | u**n** ami / vou**s** avez / e**n** avion | a friend / you have / by plane |
| Forbidden liaison | never after **et**, nor after a singular noun | Léa **et** Éric / un étudian**t** américain | Léa and Éric / an American student |
| Optional liaison | after **est**, **pas** and most verbs; rarer in conversation | Il es(t) ici. / Pa(s) encore. | He is here. / Not yet. |
| Enchaînement | a consonant that is always pronounced moves to the next syllable | elle aime /ɛ.lɛm/ · une amie /y.na.mi/ | she loves / a friend (woman) |
| Mute h and aspirated h | mute h: elision and liaison; aspirated h: neither | l’hôtel / **le** héros | the hotel / the hero |
| Trap | before a vowel, **je** always becomes **j’** | J’habite ici. / J’aime ça. | I live here. / I like that. |
| Trap | no liaison between **et** and the next word | un garçon **et** un homme | a boy and a man |

## Elision

| Word | Rule | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **le** / **la** → **l’** | before a vowel or a mute h | l’ami / l’école / l’hôtel | the friend / the school / the hotel |
| **je** → **j’** | before a vowel or a mute h | J’ai faim. / J’habite ici. | I'm hungry. / I live here. |
| **ne** → **n’** | before a vowel or a mute h | Il n’est pas là. / Je n’ai pas faim. | He isn't here. / I'm not hungry. |
| **de** → **d’** | before a vowel or a mute h | un verre d’eau / beaucoup d’amis | a glass of water / many friends |
| **ce** → **c’** | before **est** and **était** | C’est un ami. / C’était bien. | It's a friend. / It was good. |
| **me** → **m’**, **te** → **t’**, **se** → **s’** | before a vowel or a mute h | Il m’aime. / Je t’appelle. / Elle s’appelle Léa. | He loves me. / I'm calling you. / Her name is Léa. |
| **que** → **qu’** | before a vowel or a mute h | Je sais qu’il vient. / Qu’elle est belle ! | I know he's coming. / How beautiful she is! |
| **si** → **s’** | only before **il** and **ils**; before **elle**, **on**, **un**, you write **si** | S’il vient, je reste. / **Si** elle vient, je reste. | If he comes, I'll stay. / If she comes, I'll stay. |
| **jusque** → **jusqu’** | before **à** and **ici** | jusqu’à demain / jusqu’ici | until tomorrow / up to here |

- Before a consonant, the word stays whole. le chat / la table / je parle (the cat / the table / I speak)

## Liaison: the consonants

- Liaison makes the final consonant of a word heard before a vowel or a mute h, where it stays silent elsewhere. le**s** amis /lezami/ · vou**s** êtes /vuzɛt/ (the friends / you are)

| Sound | Spelling | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| /z/ | **s**, **x**, **z** | le**s** amis / deu**x** ans / che**z** elle | the friends / two years / at her place |
| /t/ | **t**, **d** | peti**t** ami / gran**d** arbre | boyfriend / a big tree |
| /n/ | **n** | u**n** ami / mo**n** ami / e**n** avion | a friend / my friend / by plane |
| /p/ | **p** | tro**p** aimable / beaucou**p** aimé | too kind / much loved |

- The nasal vowel stays nasal after **un**, **mon**, **en**, but becomes oral after **bon**. **mon** ami /mɔ̃nami/ · **bon** ami /bɔnami/ (my friend / a good friend)

## Required liaison

| Case | Rule | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Determiner and noun | the article, possessive, demonstrative or number links to the noun | le**s** amis / mo**n** ami / ce**s** enfants / deu**x** ans | the friends / my friend / these children / two years |
| Adjective and noun | a short adjective placed before the noun links to the noun | peti**t** ami / gran**d** arbre / bo**n** anniversaire | boyfriend / a big tree / happy birthday |
| Pronoun and verb | the subject pronoun links to the verb | vou**s** avez / il**s** ont / o**n** a / nou**s** habitons | you have / they have / we have / we live |
| Short word and word | a one-syllable preposition or adverb links to the next word | e**n** avion / che**z** elle / trè**s** aimable | by plane / at her place / very kind |
| Common phrases | **c’est** and **comment** in **comment allez-vous ?** link to the next vowel | C’es**t** un ami. / Commen**t** allez-vous ? | He's a friend. / How are you? |
| Verb and pronoun | the verb links to a following **y** or **en** | Alle**z**-y ! / Prene**z**-en ! | Go on in! / Take some! |

## Forbidden liaison

| Case | Rule | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| After **et** | the **t** of **et** is never said | un garçon **et** un homme / Léa **et** Éric | a boy and a man / Léa and Éric |
| After a singular noun | the noun does not link to the next word | un étudian**t** américain / un enfan**t** intelligent | an American student / an intelligent child |

## Optional liaison

| Case | Rule | Example |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| After **est** | often made after a form of **être** | Il es(t) ici. / Nous somme(s) arrivés. | He is here. / We have arrived. |
| After **pas**, **plus** | possible before a vowel | Pa(s) encore. / Plu(s) intéressant. | Not yet. / More interesting. |
| After other verbs | rare in everyday speech, frequent in careful speech | Il fau(t) aller. / Ils prennen(t) un café. | We must go. / They are having a coffee. |

## Enchaînement

- A consonant that is always pronounced at the end of a word moves to the next syllable when the next word starts with a vowel. elle aime /ɛ.lɛm/ · une amie /y.na.mi/ · quelle heure /kɛ.lœʁ/ (she loves / a friend (woman) / what time)
- The voice carries on into the vowel: the throat stays open between the two words. Il a un ami. /i.la.œ̃.na.mi/ (He has a friend.)

## Mute h and aspirated h

| Point | Mute h | Aspirated h |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Elision | l’homme (the man) | **le** héros (the hero) |
| Liaison | le**s** hommes /lezɔm/ (the men) | les héros /leeʁo/ (the heroes) |
| Words | l’heure / l’hôtel / l’histoire (the hour / the hotel / the story) | le haricot / le hockey / la honte (the bean / hockey / the shame) |

- A dictionary marks the words with an aspirated h: learn them one by one.
- Like an aspirated h, **onze** and **oui** block elision and liaison. le onze mai / les onze élèves / le oui (the eleventh of May / the eleven pupils / the yes)
- The **h** is never pronounced: see Pronunciation.

## Typical errors

| ✗ | ✓ |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Je ai faim. | J’ai faim. | **je** becomes **j’** before a vowel |
| Le ami est là. | L’ami est là. | **le** and **la** become **l’** before a vowel |
| Si il vient, je reste. | S’il vient, je reste. | **si** becomes **s’** before **il** and **ils** |
| S’elle vient, je reste. | **Si** elle vient, je reste. | before **elle**, **si** keeps its **i** |
| L’héros est courageux. | **Le** héros est courageux. | an aspirated h blocks elision: **le héros** |
| les amis /le.a.mi/ | les amis **/le.za.mi/** | the **s** of **les** is said /z/ before a vowel |
| un garçon et un ami /e.tœ̃/ | un garçon et un ami **/e.œ̃/** | the **t** of **et** is never said |
| les héros /le.ze.ʁo/ | les héros **/le.e.ʁo/** | before an aspirated h there is no liaison: **les héros** |
| elle a /ɛl ʔa/ | elle a **/ɛ.la/** | the voice does not stop before the vowel: **elle a** /ɛ.la/, with no glottal stop |
| grand arbre /gʁɑ̃d aʁbʁ/ | grand arbre **/gʁɑ̃.taʁbʁ/** | in liaison, **d** is said /t/ |
| bon ami /bɔ̃.na.mi/ | bon ami **/bɔ.na.mi/** | after **bon**, the vowel is oral: /bɔn/ |