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Beginner French Lesson > Lesson 1 > Basics - Vowels

Basics - Vowels

Overview:
Here we look at how 5 vowels (..and y!) don't make 5 sounds !

Objective:
Gain some knowledge on how different accents effect different vowels.

LES VOYELLES

a
e
i
o
u
y

In French the vowels are the core of each word. How the vowels are grouped in the word drastically affects how the word sounds. The other way to change the sound of the word is with the inclusion of accents.

There are 3 types of accents

aigu /

grave \

circonflexe ^

These accents change the sounds of the vowels.
Not all the accents are used with every letter, this is outlined below

A E I O U Y

é

â ê î ô û

à è ù

The E letter is the only one phonitically affected by accents. ALL the other vowels do not change their sound. They have an accent to help simply with the reading of written French.

The way the accents affect the 'E' can be heard here.

exemple english

é été summer

è père
mère father
mother

ê fête
tête party
head

An accent changes the sound of the vowel, but not the emphasis of the vowel.
In French more sounds are created when vowels are linked together. This and the use of accents creates more than 26 sounds in the French alphabet.

This is further demonstrated below.

French / English Translation

a + i = é j'ai I have

a + u = o eau water

o + i = ua moi me

o + u = u vous you

e + i = é peine pain

e + u = u eu had

e + u = e veux want

There are also some other sounds that you will come accross as demonstrated below.

French / English Translation

c + h = ch ch shhh!

p + h = ph physique physique

ç = s Français French

A Basic rule of pronounciation in French is that if the last letter of the word is an 'E' without an accent then you don't pronounce it, you simply pronounce the consonant just before.

exemple english

tête head

petite small

reste stay

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