Key French sounds & spellings (a very general & simplified reference)

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1 Key French sounds & spellings (a very general & simplified reference)
Prior learning: Following on from the alphabet! Jo Rhys-Jones, November 2011 Talkabout Primary Languages

2 Table of contents: vowels tricky consonants
nasal phonemes on/an/en, in/ain/ein regular graphemes ou, au/eau, gn, ph graphemes which make more than one sound silent letters elision & liaison

3 Voyelles: a e é è-ê o i-y u

4 A a chat

5 e – same sound made by eu / Œu
le me ne je e neuf œuf deux

6 É – same sound made by er/ez
décembre regarder levez la main! é café bébé éléphant

7 è-ê same sound made by ai/ei/et
tête pêche frère père mère zèbre

8 i-y dix six Yvonne i-y stylo bicyette lit

9 o carotte piano vélo, pot, hôtel, beau, chaud pomme, bol, docteur
o - same sound made by ô/au/eau o – can also be a short sound carotte piano vélo, pot, hôtel, beau, chaud pomme, bol, docteur

10 u sucette u Put your finger in your mouth like a lollipop.
Remove your finger but keep your lips still. Without moving your lips, try to say ‘ee’ That is the French sound ‘u’. u sucette

11 Tricky consonants: c g h s y t w

12 c cinéma carotte same sound as ç police, France, cent,
Soft when followed by e or i same sound as ç usually a hard sound cinéma carotte police, France, cent, cinq, délicieux, garçon... crayon, sac, café, banc, caméra...

13 g garage gorille gomme, guitare, catalogue, regarder...
usually a hard sound Soft when followed by e or i garage gorille gomme, guitare, catalogue, regarder... pigeon, orange, genou, girafe,

14 h is silent h thé héros hôtel

15 s oiseau poisson sac, soupe, classe, danser... cuisine, visite,
usually a soft sound Hard when between 2 vowels oiseau poisson sac, soupe, classe, danser... cuisine, visite, rose, musique, chemise

16 t dictionnaire tomate tulipe, tarte, moto, minute...
usually the same sound as in English exceptions – can change to s sound when followed by i dictionnaire tomate tulipe, tarte, moto, minute... direction, addition, patience, essentiel… Do these words make a normal t sound in English?

17 w kiwi wagon EXCEPT: le wc
w is only used in words that are borrowed from other languages - makes the same sound as in English w kiwi wagon EXCEPT: le wc

18 y crayon stylo Yvonne, cycliste, Nancy lycée, pyjama... joyeux, loyal,
usually same sound as french i but same sound as in English when between 2 vowels crayon stylo Yvonne, cycliste, Nancy lycée, pyjama... joyeux, loyal, incroyable, voyage…

19 on/an/en in/ain/ein nasal phonemes, :
Purists will rightly argue there is a very subtle difference between on and an/en but it’s highly unlikely to be noticable up to GCSE level so I leave that to teacher discretion and the level of your class… in/ain/ein

20 on/an/en: also om/AM/EM
bonjour danse dentiste tombola chambre décembre on an en om am em lampe enfants mouton

21 in ain ein im vin intelligent train demain peinture lapin important
in/ain/ein: also im vin intelligent train demain peinture important in ain ein lapin im ceinture pain

22 regular graphemes: ou e/eu/oeu oi é/ez/er au/eau/ô ph gn è/ai/ei/et

23 ou: always makes the same sound
bouche souris moutarde

24 e/eu/Œu: Always make the same sound
le me ne je e eu œu neuf œuf deux

25 oi: always makes the same sound
trois étoile histoire

26 É/ez/er: make the same sound
décembre levez la main! janvier é ez er nez café jouer

27 au/eau/ô: make the same sound
hôtel jaune oiseau moto bateau taureau

28 è/ê/ai/ei/et: All make the same sound
frère fête chaise neige Paul et Liliane baleine robinet j’aime

29 ph: makes the same sound as french f
téléphone alphabet éléphant

30 gn: always makes the same sound
araignée signal champignon

31 graphemes with more than one sound:
ch ill ail/eil/euil/ouil

32 ch Chef Chrétien Charlotte, marché, chat champagne, chocolat...
usually a soft sound: but hard sound when a greek word – often before r or l Chef Chrétien Charlotte, marché, chat champagne, chocolat... orchestre, chœur, chronique, technique…

33 ill Famille Million fille, vanille, gorille gentille, habiller…
usually a softened sound: some exceptions when the l sound is pronounced: Famille Million fille, vanille, gorille gentille, habiller… village, ville, mille tranquille

34 ail/eil/euil/ouil: make similar y sound At the end
abeille ail eil euil ouil travail soleil feuille nouille bouteille médaille bouillir

35 Silent letters club mouton éléphant, lit, lapin trois, froid, abricot…
usually the final consonant is not pronounced: But the letters b c f k l q R usually are pronounced: club mouton I can not include every exception here, so just the most common. éléphant, lit, lapin trois, froid, abricot… snob, flic, chef, anorak avril, cinq, hiver Exceptions: ours, sud, autobus, tennis, some names, Exceptions: blanc, porc, clef, -er infinitives

36 petit le petit éléphant Elision/liaison:
when a word that ends in a normally silent consonant is followed by a word that begins with a vowel or silent h, then the consonant is pronounced – usually... petit le petit éléphant