🇫🇷 French Pronunciation

Practice french pronunciation using Web Speech API. Record yourself, get instant feedback on accuracy, fluency, and confidence.

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💡 French Pronunciation Tips

🎤 Nasal Vowels

French uses nasal vowels (on, an, in, un). Practice pronouncing through both nose and mouth.

🗣️ Silent Letters

Many final consonants are silent. Focus on vowel sounds and liaisons.

📝 Daily Practice

Consistent practice helps master French intonation and rhythm.

What makes French pronunciation difficult

French spelling looks unpredictable to English speakers but is actually quite regular in the direction that matters: given the spelling, you can usually predict the sound. The difficulty is that French uses several sounds English does not have at all, and that it joins words together in ways that obscure where one ends and the next begins.

Nasal vowels

French has three or four nasal vowels depending on the speaker, and English has none. A nasal vowel is not a vowel followed by n — the n is not pronounced. The soft palate lowers during the vowel so air passes through the nose and mouth simultaneously.

Rounded front vowels

/y/ as in tu and /ø/ as in jeudi are made by holding the tongue in the position for ee while rounding the lips as though for oo. English speakers usually substitute /u/, which turns tu into tout — a real change of meaning. Practise by saying a long ee and rounding the lips without moving the tongue.

The French R

/ʁ/ is uvular: the back of the tongue approaches the uvula at the very back of the mouth. It has nothing in common with the English r, which is made at the front. A useful starting point is to gargle gently without water, then produce the same friction more softly.

Liaison and enchaînement

French joins words together, and this is why listening is harder than the individual sounds suggest. A normally silent final consonant is pronounced when the next word starts with a vowel:

Note that s and x become /z/ in liaison, and d becomes /t/.

Silent letters

Final consonants are usually silent: petit, grand, beaucoup, vous. The main exceptions are c, r, f and l, which are often pronounced — a pattern traditionally remembered with the word CaReFuL. Final e is always silent, and it usually causes the consonant before it to be pronounced: petit /pəti/ but petite /pətit/.

Stress and rhythm

French does not have word stress in the English sense. Instead, a light stress falls on the final syllable of a rhythmic group, which may cover several words. This is why French sounds even and flowing, and why English-style word stress makes French sound choppy. Aim for equal syllables with a small lift at the end of each phrase.

In-depth French guides

Each guide covers one part of the sound system in detail, with audio examples and a practice drill.