French letters in word

French orthography encompasses the spelling and punctuation of the French language. It is based on a combination of phonemic and historical principles. The spelling of words is largely based on the pronunciation of Old French c. 1100–1200 AD, and has stayed more or less the same since then, despite enormous changes to the pronunciation of the language in the intervening years. Even in the late 17th century, with the publication of the first French dictionary by the Académie française, there were attempts to reform French orthography.

This has resulted in a complicated relationship between spelling and sound, especially for vowels; a multitude of silent letters; and many homophones—e.g., saint/sein/sain/seing/ceins/ceint (all pronounced [sɛ̃]) and sang/sans/cent (all pronounced [sɑ̃]). This is conspicuous in verbs: parles (you speak), parle (I speak) and parlent (they speak) all sound like [paʁl]. Later attempts to respell some words in accordance with their Latin etymologies further increased the number of silent letters (e.g., temps vs. older tans – compare English «tense», which reflects the original spelling – and vingt vs. older vint).

Nevertheless, there are rules governing French orthography which allow for a reasonable degree of accuracy when pronouncing French words from their written forms. The reverse operation, producing written forms from pronunciation, is much more ambiguous. The French alphabet uses a number of diacritics including the circumflex. A system of braille has been developed for people who are visually impaired.

Alphabet[edit]

The French alphabet is based on the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, uppercase and lowercase, with five diacritics and two orthographic ligatures.

Letter	Name	Name (IPA)	Diacritics and ligatures
A	a	/a/	Àà, Ââ, Ææ
B	bé	/be/
C	cé	/se/	Çç
D	dé	/de/
E	e	/ə/	Éé, Èè, Êê, Ëë
F	effe	/ɛf/
G	gé	/ʒe/
H	ache	/aʃ/
I	i	/i/	Îî, Ïï
J	ji	/ʒi/
K	ka	/ka/
L	elle	/ɛl/
M	emme	/ɛm/
N	enne	/ɛn/
O	o	/o/	Ôô, Œœ
P	pé	/pe/
Q	qu	/ky/
R	erre	/ɛʁ/
S	esse	/ɛs/
T	té	/te/
U	u	/y/	Ùù, Ûû, Üü
V	vé	/ve/
W	double vé	/dubləve/
X	ixe	/iks/
Y	i grec	/iɡʁɛk/	Ÿÿ
Z	zède	/zɛd/

The letters ⟨w⟩ and ⟨k⟩ are rarely used except in loanwords and regional words. The phoneme /w/ sound is usually written ⟨ou⟩; the /k/ sound is usually written ⟨c⟩ anywhere but before ⟨e, i, y⟩, ⟨qu⟩ before ⟨e, i, y⟩, and sometimes ⟨que⟩ at the ends of words. However, ⟨k⟩ is common in the metric prefix kilo- (originally from Greek χίλια khilia «a thousand»): kilogramme, kilomètre, kilowatt, kilohertz, etc.

Diacritics[edit]

The usual diacritics are the acute (⟨´⟩, accent aigu), the grave (⟨`⟩, accent grave), the circumflex (⟨ˆ⟩, accent circonflexe), the diaeresis (⟨ ¨ ⟩, tréma), and the cedilla (⟨ ¸ ⟩, cédille). Diacritics have no effect on the primary alphabetical order.

• The acute accent or accent aigu (é), over e, indicates uniquely the sound /e/. An é in modern French is often used where a combination of e and a consonant, usually s, would have been used formerly: écouter < escouter.
• The grave accent or accent grave (à, è, ù), over a or u, is used primarily to distinguish homophones: à («to») vs. a («has»); ou («or») vs. où («where»; note that the letter ù is used only in this word). Over an e, indicates the sound /ɛ/ in positions where a plain e would be pronounced as /ə/ (schwa). Many verb conjugations contain regular alternations between è and e; for example, the accent mark in the present tense verb lève [lεv] distinguishes the vowel’s pronunciation from the schwa in the infinitive, lever [ləve].
• The circumflex or accent circonflexe (â, ê, î, ô, û), over a, e and o, indicates the sound /ɑ/, /ɛ/ and /o/, respectively, but the distinction a /a/ vs. â /ɑ/ tends to disappear in Parisian French, so they are both pronounced [a]. In Belgian French, ê is pronounced [ɛː]. Most often, it indicates the historical deletion of an adjacent letter (usually an s or a vowel): château < castel, fête < feste, sûr < seur, dîner < disner (in medieval manuscripts many letters were often written as diacritical marks: the circumflex for «s» and the tilde for «n» are examples). It has also come to be used to distinguish homophones: du («of the») vs. dû (past participle of devoir «to have to do something (pertaining to an act)»); however dû is in fact written thus because of a dropped e: deu (see Circumflex in French). Since the 1990 orthographic changes, the circumflex on most i‘s and u‘s may be dropped when it does not serve to distinguish homophones: chaîne becomes chaine but sûr (sure) does not change because it distinguishes the word from sur (on).
• The diaeresis or tréma (ë, ï, ü, ÿ), over e, i, u or y, indicates that a vowel is to be pronounced separately from the preceding one: naïve [naiv], Noël [nɔɛl]. The diaeresis may indicate either vowels in hiatus, as in naïve, or a glide/diphthong, as in naïad [najad].
  • The combination of e with diaeresis following o (as in Noël) is pronounced in the regular way if followed by n (Samoëns [samwɛ̃], but note Citroën [sitʁoɛn])
  • The combination of e with diaeresis following a is either pronounced [ɛ] (Raphaël, Israël [aɛ]) or not pronounced, leaving only the a (Staël [a]); it is pronounced as an if aë is followed by n (Saint-Saëns [sɛ̃sɑ̃(s)])
  • A diaeresis on y only occurs in some proper names and in modern editions of old French texts. Some proper names in which ÿ appears include Aÿ [ai] (commune in Marne, now Aÿ-Champagne), Rue des Cloÿs [?] (alley in the 18th arrondissement of Paris), Croÿ [kʁwi] (family name and hotel on the Boulevard Raspail, Paris), Château du Feÿ [dyfei]? (near Joigny), Ghÿs [ɡis]? (name of Flemish origin spelt Ghijs where ij in handwriting looked like ÿ to French clerks), L’Haÿ-les-Roses [laj lɛ ʁoz] (commune between Paris and Orly airport), Pierre Louÿs [luis] (author), Moÿ-de-l’Aisne [mɔidəlɛn] (commune in Aisne and a family name), and Le Blanc de Nicolaÿ [nikɔlai] (an insurance company in eastern France).
  • The diaeresis on u appears in the Biblical proper names Archélaüs [aʁʃelay]?, Capharnaüm [kafaʁnaɔm] (with the um pronounced [ɔm] as in words of Latin origin such as album, maximum, or chemical element names such as sodium, aluminium), Emmaüs [ɛmays], Ésaü [ezay], and Saül [sayl], as well as French names such as Haüy [aɥi].^{[WP-fr has as 3 syllables, [ayi]]} Nevertheless, since the 1990 orthographic changes, the diaeresis in words containing guë (such as aiguë [eɡy] or ciguë [siɡy]) may be moved onto the u: aigüe, cigüe, and by analogy may be used in verbs such as j’argüe. Without a diaeresis, the ue would be silent (or a schwa in those accents which retain one): Aigues-Mortes [ɛɡ(ə)mɔʁt(ə)].
  • In addition, words coming from German retain their umlaut (ä, ö and ü) if applicable but often use French pronunciation, such as Kärcher ([kεʁʃɛʁ] or [kaʁʃɛʁ], trademark of a pressure washer).
• The cedilla or cédille (ç), under c, indicates that it is pronounced /s/ rather than /k/. Thus je lance «I throw» (with c = [s] before e), je lançais «I was throwing» (c would be pronounced [k] before a without the cedilla). The cedilla is only used before the vowels a, o or u, for example, ça /sa/; it is never used before the vowels e, i, or y, since these three vowels always produce a soft /s/ sound (ce, ci, cycle).

The tilde diacritical mark ( ˜ ) above n is occasionally used in French for words and names of Spanish origin that have been incorporated into the language (e.g., El Niño). Like the other diacritics, the tilde has no impact on the primary alphabetical order.

Diacritics are often omitted on capital letters, mainly for technical reasons. It is widely believed that they are not required; however both the Académie française and the Office québécois de la langue française reject this usage and confirm that «in French, the accent has full orthographic value»,^[1] except for acronyms but not for abbreviations (e.g., CEE, ALENA, but É.-U.).^[2] Nevertheless, diacritics are often ignored in word games, including crosswords, Scrabble, and Des chiffres et des lettres.

Ligatures[edit]

The two ligatures œ and æ have orthographic value. For determining alphabetical order, these ligatures are treated like the sequences oe and ae.

Œ[edit]

(French: œ, e dans l’o, o-e entrelacé or o et e collés/liés) This ligature is a mandatory contraction of ⟨oe⟩ in certain words. Some of these are native French words, with the pronunciation /œ/ or /ø/, e.g., chœur «choir» /kœʁ/, cœur «heart» /kœʁ/, mœurs «moods (related to moral)» /mœʁ, mœʁs/, nœud «knot» /nø/, sœur «sister» /sœʁ/, œuf «egg» /œf/, œuvre «work (of art)» /œvʁ/, vœu «vow» /vø/. It usually appears in the combination œu; œil /œj/ «eye» is an exception. Many of these words were originally written with the digraph eu; the o in the ligature represents a sometimes artificial attempt to imitate the Latin spelling: Latin bovem > Old French buef/beuf > Modern French bœuf.

Œ is also used in words of Greek origin, as the Latin rendering of the Greek diphthong οι, e.g., cœlacanthe «coelacanth». These words used to be pronounced with the vowel /e/, but in recent years a spelling pronunciation with /ø/ has taken hold, e.g., œsophage /ezɔfaʒ/ or /øzɔfaʒ/, Œdipe /edip/ or /ødip/ etc. The pronunciation with /e/ is often seen to be more correct.

When œ is found after the letter c, the c can be pronounced /k/ in some cases (cœur), or /s/ in others (cœlacanthe).

The ligature œ is not used when both letters contribute different sounds. For example, when ⟨o⟩ is part of a prefix (coexister), or when ⟨e⟩ is part of a suffix (minoen), or in the word moelle and its derivatives.^[3]

Æ[edit]

(French: æ, e dans l’a, a-e entrelacé or a, e collés/liés) This ligature is rare, appearing only in some words of Latin and Greek origin like tænia, ex æquo, cæcum, æthuse (as named dog’s parsley).^[4] It generally represents the vowel /e/, like ⟨é⟩.

The sequence ⟨ae⟩ appears in loanwords where both sounds are heard, as in maestro and paella.^[5]

Digraphs and trigraphs[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2008)

French digraphs and trigraphs have both historical and phonological origins. In the first case, it is a vestige of the spelling in the word’s original language (usually Latin or Greek) maintained in modern French, for example, the use of ⟨ph⟩ in words like téléphone, ⟨th⟩ in words like théorème, or ⟨ch⟩ in chaotique. In the second case, a digraph is due to an archaic pronunciation, such as ⟨eu⟩, ⟨au⟩, ⟨oi⟩, ⟨ai⟩, and ⟨œu⟩, or is merely a convenient way to expand the twenty-six-letter alphabet to cover all relevant phonemes, as in ⟨ch⟩, ⟨on⟩, ⟨an⟩, ⟨ou⟩, ⟨un⟩, and ⟨in⟩. Some cases are a mixture of these or are used for purely pragmatic reasons, such as ⟨ge⟩ for /ʒ/ in il mangeait (‘he ate’), where the ⟨e⟩ serves to indicate a «soft» ⟨g⟩ inherent in the verb’s root, similar to the significance of a cedilla to ⟨c⟩.

Spelling to sound correspondences[edit]

Some exceptions apply to the rules governing the pronunciation of word-final consonants. See Liaison (French) for details.

Consonants and combinations of consonant letters

Spelling	Major value (IPA)	Examples of major value	Minor values (IPA)	Examples of minor values	Exceptions
-bs, -cs (in plural of words ending in silent ⟨b⟩ or ⟨c⟩), -ds, -fs (in œufs and bœufs, and plural words ending with silent —⟨f⟩), ‑gs, -ps, -ts	Ø	plombs, blancs, prends, œufs, cerfs, longs , draps, achats
b, bb	elsewhere	/b/	ballon, abbé
before a voiceless consonant	/p/	absolu, observer, subtile
finally	Ø	plomb, Colomb	/b/	Jacob
ç	/s/	ça, garçon, reçu
c	before ⟨e, i, y⟩	/s/	cyclone , loquace, douce, ciel, ceux
initially/medially elsewhere	/k/	cabas , crasse, cœur, sacré	/s/ (before æ and œ in scientific terms of Latin and Greek origin)	cæcum, cœlacanthe	/ɡ/ second
finally	/k/	lac, donc, parc	Ø	tabac, blanc, caoutchouc	/ɡ/ zinc
cc	before ⟨e, i, y⟩	/ks/	accès, accent			/s/ succion
elsewhere	/k/	accord
ch	/ʃ/	chat , douche	/k/ (often in words of Greek origin[6])	chaotique, chlore, varech	Ø yacht, almanach /tʃ/ check-list, strech, coach
-ct	/kt/	direct , correct	Ø	respect, suspect, instinct, succinct
d, dd	elsewhere	/d/	doux , adresse, addition
finally	Ø	pied , accord	/d/	David, sud
f, ff	/f/	fait , affoler, soif			Ø clef, cerf, nerf
g	before ⟨e, i, y⟩	/ʒ/	gens , manger			/dʒ/ gin, management, adagio
initially/medially elsewhere	/ɡ/	gain , glacier
finally	Ø	joug, long, sang	/ɡ/	erg, zigzag
gg	before ⟨e, i, y⟩	/ɡʒ/	suggérer
elsewhere	/ɡ/	aggraver
gn	/ɲ/	montagne , agneau, gnôle			/ɡn/ gnose, gnou
h	Ø	habite , hiver	/j/ (intervocalic, to some speakers, but Ø for most speakers)	Sahara	/h/ ahaner (also Ø or /j/), hit
j	/ʒ/	joue, jeter	/dʒ/	jean, jazz	/j/ fjord /x/ jota, marijuana
k	/k/	alkyler , kilomètre, bifteck
l, ll	/l/	lait , allier, il, royal, matériel	Ø (occasionally finally)	cul, fusil, saoul	Ø fils, aulne, aulx (see also -il)
m, mm	/m/	mou , pomme			Ø automne, condamner
n, nn	/n/	nouvel , panne
ng (in loanwords)	/ŋ/	parking , camping
p, pp	elsewhere	/p/	pain, appel
finally	Ø	coup, trop	/p/	cap, cep
ph	/f/	téléphone , photo
pt	/pt/	ptérodactyle, adapter , excepter, ptôse, concept	/t/	baptême, compter, sept	Ø prompt (also pt
q (see qu)	/k/	coq , cinq, piqûre (in new orthography, piqure), Qatar
r, rr	/ʁ/	rat , barre			Ø monsieur, gars (see also -er)
s	initially medially next to a consonant or after a nasal vowel	/s/	sacre , estime, penser, instituer	/z/	Alsace, transat, transiter	Ø mesdames, mesdemoiselles
elsewhere between two vowels	/z/	rose, paysage	/s/	antisèche, parasol, vraisemblable
finally	Ø	dans , repas	/s/	fils, sens (noun), os (singular), ours
sc	before ⟨e, i, y⟩	/s/	science			/ʃ/ fasciste (also /s/)
elsewhere	/sk/	script
sch	/ʃ/	schlague , haschisch, esche	/sk/	schizoïde, ischion, æschne
ss	/s/	baisser, passer
-st	/st/	est (direction), ouest, podcast	Ø	est (verb), Jésus-Christ (also /st/)
t, tt	elsewhere	/t/	tout , attente	/s/	nation (see ti + vowel)
finally	Ø	tant , raffut	/t/	dot, brut, yaourt
tch	/t͡ʃ/	tchat, match, Tchad
th	/t/	thème, thermique, aneth			Ø asthme, bizuth, goth /s/ thread
v	/v/	ville, vanne
w	/w/	kiwi , week-end (in new orthography, weekend), whisky	/v/	wagon, schwa, interviewer	(see also aw, ew, ow)
x	initially next to a voiceless consonant phonologically finally	/ks/	xylophone, expansion, connexe	/ɡz/	xénophobie, Xavier	/k/ xhosa, xérès (also /ks/) Ø auxquels, auxquelles
medially elsewhere	/ks/	galaxie, maximum	/s/ /z/ /gz/	soixante, Bruxelles deuxième exigence
finally	Ø	paix , deux	/ks/	index, pharynx	/s/ six, dix, coccyx
xc	before ⟨e, i, y⟩	/ks/	exciter
elsewhere	/ksk/	excavation
z	elsewhere	/z/	zain , gazette
finally	Ø	chez			/z/ gaz, fez, merguez /s/ quartz

Vowels and combinations of vowel letters

Spelling	Major value (IPA)	Examples of major value	Minor values (IPA)	Examples of minor value	Exceptions
a, à	/a/	patte, arable, là, déjà	/ɑ/	araser, base, condamner	/ɔ/ yacht (also /o/) /o/ football /e/ lady
â	/ɑ/	château, pâté	/a/	dégât (also /ɑ/), parlâmes, liâtes, menât (simple past and imperfect subjunctive verb forms ending in -âmes, -âtes, and -ât)
aa	/a/	graal, Baal, maastrichtois	/a.a/	aa
æ	/e/	ex-æquo, cæcum
ae	/e/	reggae	/a/	groenendael, maelstrom, Portaels	/a.ɛ/ maestro /a.e/ paella
aë	/a.ɛ/	Raphaël, Israël			/a/ Staël
ai	/ɛ/ (/e/)	vrai, faite ai, aiguille, baisser, gai, quai	/e/	lançai, mangerai (future and simple past verb forms ending in -ai or -rai)	/ə/ faisan, faisons,[7] (and all other conjugated forms of faire which are spelt fais- and followed by a pronounced vowel)
aî (in new orthography ⟨ai⟩)	/ɛː/	maître, chaîne (in new orthography, maitre, chaine)
aï	/a.i/	naïf, haïr	/aj/	aïe, aïeul, haïe, païen
aie	/ɛ/	baie, monnaie	/ɛj/	paie (also paye)
ao, aô	elsewhere	/a.ɔ/	aorte, extraordinaire (also /ɔ/)	/a.o/	baobab	/a/ faonne, paonneau /o/ Saône
phonologically finally	/a.o/	cacao, chaos			/o/ curaçao
aou, aoû	/a.u/	caoutchouc, aoûtien (in new orthography, aoutien), yaourt	/u/	saoul, août (in new orthography, aout)
au	elsewhere	/o/	haut, augure
before ⟨r⟩	/ɔ/	dinosaure, Aurélie, Laurent (also /o/)
ay	elsewhere	/ɛj/	ayons, essayer (also /ej/)	/aj/	mayonnaise, papaye, ayoye	/ei/ pays (also /ɛi/)
finally	/ɛ/	Gamay, margay, railway			/e/ okay
-aye	/ɛ.i/	abbaye	/ɛj/	paye	/ɛ/ La Haye /aj/ baye
e	elsewhere	/ə/	repeser, genoux			/e/ revolver (in new orthography, révolver)
before multiple consonants, ⟨x⟩, or a final consonant (silent or pronounced)	/ɛ/	est, estival, voyelle, examiner, exécuter, quel, chalet	/ɛ, e/ /ə/	essence, effet, henné recherche, secrète, repli (before ch+vowel or 2 different consonants when the second one is l or r)	/e/ mangez, (and any form of a verb in the second person plural that ends in -ez) assez /a/ femme, solennel, fréquemment, (and other adverbs ending in —emment)[8] /œ/ Gennevilliers (see also -er, -es)
in monosyllabic words before a silent consonant	/e/	et, les, nez, clef			/ɛ/ es
finally in a position where it can be easily elided	∅	caisse, unique, acheter (also /ə/), franchement	/ə/ (finally in monosyllabic words)	que, de, je
é, ée	/e/	clé, échapper, idée			/ɛ/ (in closed syllables) événement, céderai, vénerie (in new orthography, évènement, cèderai, vènerie)
è	/ɛ/	relève, zèle
ê	phonologically finally or in closed syllables	/ɛː/	tête, crêpe, forêt, prêt
in open syllables	/ɛː, e/	bêtise
ea (except after ⟨g⟩)	/i/	dealer, leader, speaker (in new orthography, dealeur, leadeur, speakeur)
ee	/i/	week-end (in new orthography, weekend), spleen			/e/ pedigree (also pédigré(e))
eau	/o/	eau, oiseaux
ei	/ɛ/	neige (also /ɛː/), reine (also /ɛː/), geisha (also /ɛj/)
eî	/ɛː/	reître (in new orthography, reitre)
eoi	/wa/	asseoir (in new orthography, assoir)
eu	initially phonologically finally before /z/	/ø/	Europe, heureux, peu, chanteuse			/y/ eu, eussions, (and any conjugated form of avoir spelt with eu-), gageure (in new orthography, gageüre)
elsewhere	/œ/	beurre, jeune	/ø/	feutre, neutre, pleuvoir
eû	/ø/	jeûne			/y/ eûmes, eût, (and any conjugated forms of avoir spelt with eû-)
ey	before vowel	/ɛj/	gouleyant, volleyer
finally	/ɛ/	hockey, trolley
i	elsewhere	/i/	ici, proscrire			Ø business
before vowel	/j/	fief, ionique, rien	/i/ (in compound words)	antioxydant
î	/i/	gîte, épître (in new orthography, gitre, epitre)
ï (initially or between vowels)	/j/	ïambe (also iambe), aïeul, païen			/i/ ouïe
-ie	/i/	régie, vie
o	phonologically finally before /z/	/o/	pro, mot, chose, déposes			/ɔ/ sosie
elsewhere	/ɔ/	carotte, offre	/o/	cyclone, fosse, tome
ô	/o/	tôt, cône			/ɔ/ hôpital (also /o/)
œ	/œ/	œil	/e/ /ɛ/	œsophage, fœtus œstrogène	/ø/ lœss
oe	/ɔ.e/	coefficient			/wa, wɛ/ moelle, moellon, moelleux (also moëlle, moëllon, moëlleux) /ø/ foehn
oê	/wa, wɛ/	poêle
oë	/ɔ.ɛ/	Noël			/ɔ.e/ canoë, goëmon (also canoé, goémon) /wɛ/ foëne, Plancoët /wa/ Voëvre
œu	phonologically finally	/ø/	nœud, œufs, bœufs, vœu
elsewhere	/œ/	sœur, cœur, œuf, bœuf
oi, oie	/wa/	roi, oiseau, foie, quoi (also /wɑ/ for these latter words)	/wɑ/	bois, noix, poids, trois	/ɔ/ oignon (in new orthography, ognon) /ɔj/ séquoia /o.i/ autoimmuniser
oî	/wa, wɑ/	croîs, Benoît
oï	/ɔ.i/	coït, astéroïde	/ɔj/	troïka
oo	/ɔ.ɔ/	coopération, oocyte, zoologie	/u/	bazooka, cool, football	/ɔ/ alcool, Boskoop, rooibos /o/ spéculoos, mooré, zoo /w/ shampooing
ou, où	elsewhere	/u/	ouvrir, sous, où			/o.y/ pseudouridimycine /aw/ out, knock-out
before vowel or h+vowel	/w/	ouest, couiner, oui, souhait (also /u/)
oû (in new orthography ⟨ou⟩)	/u/	coût, goût (in new orthography, cout, gout)
-oue	/u/	roue
oy	/waj/	moyen, royaume	/wa, wɑ/	Fourcroy	/ɔj/ oyez (and any conjugated form of ouïr spelt with oy-), goyave, cow-boy (in new orthography cowboy), ayoy /ɔ.i/ Moyse
u	elsewhere	/y/	tu, juge			/u/ tofu, pudding /œ/ club, puzzle /i/ business /ɔ/ rhumerie (see also um)
before vowel	/ɥ/	huit, tuer	/y/	pollueur	/w/ cacahuète (also /ɥ/)
û (in new orthography ⟨u⟩)	/y/	sûr, flûte (in new orthography, flute)
ue, uë	elsewhere	/ɥɛ/	actuel, ruelle	/e/ /ɛ/ /ə/ /œ/ (see below)	gué guerre que orgueil, cueillir
finally	/y/	aiguë (in new orthography, aigüe), rue	Ø	clique
üe	finally	/y/	aigüe
-ui, uï	/ɥi/	linguistique, équilateral ambiguïté (in new orthography, ambigüité)	/i/	équilibre
uy	/ɥij/	bruyant, ennuyé, fuyons, Guyenne	/y.j/	gruyère, thuya	/ɥi/ puy
y	elsewhere	/i/	cyclone, style
before vowel	/j/	yeux, yole	/i/	polyester, Libye
ÿ	(used only in proper nouns)	/i/	L’Haÿ-les-Roses, Freÿr

Combinations of vowel and consonant letters

Spelling	Major value (IPA)	Examples of major value	Minor values (IPA)	Examples of minor value	Exceptions
am	before consonant	/ɑ̃/	ambiance, lampe			/a/ damné
finally	/am/	Vietnam, tam-tam, macadam			/ɑ̃/ Adam
an, aan	before consonant or finally	/ɑ̃/	France, an, bilan, plan, afrikaans	/an/	brahman, chaman, dan, gentleman, tennisman, naan
aen, aën	before consonant or finally	/ɑ̃/	Caen, Saint-Saëns
aim, ain	before consonant or finally	/ɛ̃/	faim, saint, bains
aon	before consonant or finally	/ɑ̃/	paon, faon	/a.ɔ̃/	pharaon
aw	/o/	crawl, squaw, yawl			/ɑs/ in the 18th century and still traditional French approximation of Laws, the colloquial Scottish form of the economist John Law‘s name[9][10]
cqu	/k/	acquit, acquéreur
-cte	finally as feminine form of adjectives ending in silent ⟨ct⟩ (see above)	/t/	succincte
em, en	before consonant or finally elsewhere	/ɑ̃/	embaucher, vent	/ɛ̃/	examen, ben, pensum, pentagone	/ɛn/ week-end (in new orthography, weekend), lichen /ɛm/ indemne, totem
before consonant or finally after ⟨é, i, y⟩	/ɛ̃/	européen, bien, doyen	/ɑ̃/ (before t or soft c)	patient, quotient, science, audience
eim, ein	before consonant or finally	/ɛ̃/	plein, sein, Reims
-ent	3rd person plural verb ending	Ø	parlent, finissaient
-er	/e/	aller, transporter, premier	/ɛʁ/	hiver, super, éther, fier, mer, enfer, Niger	/œʁ/ leader (also ɛʁ), speaker
-es	Ø	Nantes, faites	/e/, /ɛ/	les, des, ces, es
eun	before consonant or finally	/œ̃/	jeun
ew	/ju/	newton, steward (also iw)			/w/ chewing-gum
ge	before ⟨a, o, u⟩	/ʒ/	geai, mangea
gu	before ⟨e, i, y⟩	/ɡ/	guerre, dingue	/ɡy, ɡɥ/	arguër (in new orthography, argüer), aiguille, linguistique, ambiguïté (in new orthography, ambigüité)
-il	after some vowels1	/j/	ail, conseil
not after vowel	/il/	il, fil	/i/	outil, fils, fusil
-ilh-	after ⟨u⟩[11]	/ij/	Guilhem
after other vowels[11]	/j/	Meilhac, Devieilhe			/l/ Devieilhe (some families don’t use the traditional pronunciation /j/ of ilh)
-ill-	after some vowels1	/j/	paille, nouille
not after vowel	/il/	mille, million, billion, ville, villa, village, tranquille[12]	/ij/	grillage, bille
im, in, în	before consonant or finally	/ɛ̃/	importer, vin, vînt			/in/ sprint
oin, oën	before consonant or finally	/wɛ̃/	besoin, point, Samoëns
om, on	before consonant or finally	/ɔ̃/	ombre, bon			/ɔn/ canyon /ə/ monsieur /ɔ/ automne
ow	/o/	cow-boy (also [aw]. In new orthography, cowboy), show			/u/ clown /o.w/ Koweït
qu	/k/	quand, pourquoi, loquace	/kɥ/ /kw/	équilatéral aquarium, loquace, quatuor	/ky/ piqûre (in new orthography, piqure), qu
ti + vowel	initially or after /s/	/tj/	bastion, gestionnaire, tiens, aquae-sextien
elsewhere	/sj/, /si/	fonctionnaire, initiation, Croatie, haïtien	/tj/, /ti/	the suffix -tié, all conjugated forms of verbs with a radical ending in -t (augmentions, partiez, etc.) or derived from tenir, and all nouns and past participles derived from such verbs and ending in -ie (sortie, divertie, etc.)
um, un	before consonant or finally	/œ̃/	parfum, brun	/ɔm/	album, maximum	/ɔ̃/ nuncupation, punch (in new orthography, ponch), secundo
ym, yn	before consonant or finally	/ɛ̃/	sympa, syndrome	/im/	gymnase, hymne

^1 These combinations are pronounced /j/ after ⟨a, e, eu, œ, ou, ue⟩, all but the last of which are pronounced normally and are not influenced by the ⟨i⟩. For example, in rail, ⟨a⟩ is pronounced /a/; in mouiller, ⟨ou⟩ is pronounced /u/. ⟨ue⟩, however, which only occurs in such combinations after ⟨c⟩ and ⟨g⟩, is pronounced /œ/ as opposed to /ɥɛ/: orgueil, cueillir, accueil, etc. These combinations are never pronounced /j/ after ⟨o, u⟩ (except —⟨uill⟩-, which is /ɥij/: aiguille, juillet); in that case, the vowel + i combination as well as the ⟨l⟩s is pronounced normally, although as usual, the pronunciation of ⟨u⟩ after ⟨g⟩ and ⟨q⟩ is somewhat unpredictable: poil, huile, équilibre [ekilibʁ] but équilatéral [ekɥilateʁal], etc.

There are no longer silent k’s in French. They appeared in skunks, knock-out, knickerbockers and knickers, but from now onwards, the ⟨k⟩ is also pronounced. The only consonants always pronounced equally in French are now ⟨k⟩ and ⟨v⟩. Also, ⟨ei⟩ is always pronounced /ɛ/, even in leitmotiv.

Words from Greek[edit]

The spelling of French words of Greek origin is complicated by a number of digraphs which originated in the Latin transcriptions. The digraphs ⟨ph⟩, ⟨th⟩, and ⟨ch⟩ normally represent /f/, /t/, and /k/ in Greek loanwords, respectively; and the ligatures ⟨æ⟩ and ⟨œ⟩ in Greek loanwords represent the same vowel as ⟨é⟩ (/e/). Further, many words in the international scientific vocabulary were constructed in French from Greek roots and have kept their digraphs (e.g., stratosphère, photographie).

History[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2008)

The Oaths of Strasbourg from 842 is the earliest text written in the early form of French called Romance or Gallo-Romance.

Roman[edit]

The Celtic Gaulish language of the inhabitants of Gaul disappeared progressively over the course of Roman rule as the Latin language began to replace it. Vulgar Latin, a generally lower register of Classical Latin spoken by the Roman soldiers, merchants and even by patricians in quotidian speech, was adopted by the natives and evolved slowly, taking the forms of different spoken Roman vernaculars according to the region of the empire.

Eventually the different forms of Vulgar Latin in what is now France evolved into three branches in the Gallo-Romance language sub-family, the langues d’oïl north of the Loire, the langues d’oc in the south, and the Franco-Provençal languages in part of the east.^[13]

Old French[edit]

In the 9th century, the Romance vernaculars were already quite far from Latin. For example, to understand the Bible, written in Latin, footnotes were necessary. The languages found in the manuscripts dating from the 9th century to the 13th century form what is known as Old French or ancien français. With consolidation of royal power, beginning in the 13th century, the Francien vernacular, the langue d’oil variety then in usage in the Île-de-France (region around Paris), took, little by little, over the other languages and evolved toward Classic French. These languages continued to evolve until Middle French (moyen français) emerged, in the 14th century to the 16th century.^[13]

Middle French[edit]

During the Middle French period (c. 1300–1600), modern spelling practices were largely established. This happened especially during the 16th century, under the influence of printers. The overall trend was towards continuity with Old French spelling, although some changes were made under the influence of changed pronunciation habits; for example, the Old French distinction between the diphthongs eu and ue was eliminated in favor of consistent eu,^[a] as both diphthongs had come to be pronounced /ø/ or /œ/ (depending on the surrounding sounds). However, many other distinctions that had become equally superfluous were maintained, e.g. between s and soft c or between ai and ei. It is likely that etymology was the guiding factor here: the distinctions s/c and ai/ei reflect corresponding distinctions in the spelling of the underlying Latin words, whereas no such distinction exists in the case of eu/ue.

This period also saw the development of some explicitly etymological spellings, e.g. temps («time»), vingt («twenty») and poids («weight») (note that in many cases, the etymologizing was sloppy or occasionally completely incorrect; vingt reflects Latin viginti, with the g in the wrong place, and poids actually reflects Latin pensum, with no d at all; the spelling poids is due to an incorrect derivation from Latin pondus). The trend towards etymologizing sometimes produced absurd (and generally rejected) spellings such as sçapvoir for normal savoir («to know»), which attempted to combine Latin sapere («to be wise», the correct origin of savoir) with scire («to know»).

Classical French[edit]

Modern French spelling was codified in the late 17th century by the Académie française, based largely on previously established spelling conventions. Some reforms have occurred since then, but most have been fairly minor. The most significant changes have been:

• Adoption of j and v to represent consonants, in place of former i and u.
• Addition of a circumflex accent to reflect historical vowel length. During the Middle French period, a distinction developed between long and short vowels, with long vowels largely stemming from a lost /s/ before a consonant, as in même (cf. Spanish mismo), but sometimes from the coalescence of similar vowels, as in âge from earlier aage, eage (early Old French *edage < Vulgar Latin *aetaticum, cf. Spanish edad < aetate(m)). Prior to this, such words continued to be spelled historically (e.g. mesme and age). Ironically, by the time this convention was adopted in the 19th century, the former distinction between short and long vowels had largely disappeared in all but the most conservative pronunciations, with vowels automatically pronounced long or short depending on the phonological context (see French phonology).
• Use of ai in place of oi where pronounced /ɛ/ rather than /wa/. The most significant effect of this was to change the spelling of all imperfect verbs (formerly spelled -ois, -oit, -oient rather than -ais, -ait, -aient), as well as the name of the language, from françois to français.

Modern French[edit]

In October 1989, Michel Rocard, then-Prime Minister of France, established the High Council of the French Language (Conseil supérieur de la langue française) in Paris. He designated experts – among them linguists, representatives of the Académie française and lexicographers – to propose standardizing several points, a few of those points being:

• The uniting hyphen in all compound numerals

i.e. trente-et-un

• The plural of compound words, the second element of which always takes the plural s

For example un après-midi, des après-midis

• The circumflex accent ⟨ˆ⟩ disappears on all u‘s and i‘s except for words in which it is needed for differentiation

As in coût (cost) → cout, abîme (abyss) → abime but sûr (sure) because of sur (on)

• The past participle of laisser followed by an infinitive verb is invariable (now works the same way as the verb faire)

elle s’est laissée mourir → elle s’est laissé mourir

Quickly, the experts set to work. Their conclusions were submitted to Belgian and Québécois linguistic political organizations. They were likewise submitted to the Académie française, which endorsed them unanimously, saying:
«Current orthography remains that of usage, and the ‘recommendations’ of the High Council of the French language only enter into play with words that may be written in a different manner without being considered as incorrect or as faults.»^{[citation needed]}

The changes were published in the Journal officiel de la République française in December 1990. At the time the proposed changes were considered to be suggestions. In 2016, schoolbooks in France began to use the newer recommended spellings, with instruction to teachers that both old and new spellings be deemed correct.^[14]

Punctuation[edit]

In France and Belgium, the exclamation mark, question mark, semicolon, colon, percentage mark, currency symbols, hash, and guillemet all require a non-breaking space before and after the punctuation mark. Outside of France and Belgium, this rule is often ignored. Computer software may aid or hinder the application of this rule, depending on the degree of localisation, as it is marked differently from most other Western punctuation.

Hyphens[edit]

The hyphen in French has a particular use in geographic names that is not found in English.
Traditionally, the «specific» part of placenames, street names, and organization names are hyphenated (usually namesakes).^[15][16]
For instance, la place de la Bataille-de-Stalingrad (Square of the Battle of Stalingrad [la bataille de Stalingrad]);
and l’université Blaise-Pascal (named after Blaise Pascal).
Likewise, Pas-de-Calais is actually a place on land; the real pas (“strait”) is le pas de Calais.

However, this rule is not uniformly observed in official names, e.g., either la Côte-d’Ivoire or la Côte d’Ivoire, but normally la Côte d’Azur has no hyphens.
The names of Montreal Metro stations are consistently hyphenated when suitable, but those of Paris Métro stations mostly ignore this rule. (For more examples, see Trait d’union)

See also[edit]

• Elision (French)
• French phonology
• French braille
• French manual alphabet
• Circumflex in French
• French heteronyms, words spelled the same but pronounced differently

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• Fouché, Pierre (1956). Traité de prononciation française. Paris: Klincksieck.
• Tranel, Bernard (1987). The Sounds of French: An Introduction. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-31510-7.

External links[edit]

• Alternate French spelling (in French)
• Recording of 3 different voices pronouncing the French alphabet
• French alphabet pronounced by a native speaker (Youtube)

Try these Windows ALT codes for French accent marks by just using your number pad:

1. Alt+0233 (é)
2. Alt+0224 (à)
3. Alt+0232 (è)
4. Alt+0249 (ù)
5. Alt+0226 (â)
6. Alt+0234 (ê)
7. Alt+0238 (î)
8. Alt+0244 (ô)

How do you type special characters on a French keyboard?

Press and hold the Control key (Ctrl on you keyboard), then press the special key indicated. Release the two keys, then press the key for the letter you want accented.

l’accent aigu	Option-e
l’accent grave	Option-` (key just left of the 1 key)
l’accent circonflexe	Option-i
le tréma	Option-u

How do you type a French font?

Typing French Accents in Windows

1. To type accent grave (à, è, etc), type ` (to the left of 1) then the vowel.
2. Accent aigu (é), type ‘ (single quote) then e.
3. Cédille (ç), type ‘ then c.
4. Circonflexe (ê), type ^ (shift + 6) then e.
5. Tréma (ö), type ” (shift + ‘) then o.

How do I turn on French keyboard?

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Under Clock, Language, and Regional Options, click Change keyboard or other input methods.
3. In the Regional and Language Options dialog box, click Change keyboards.
4. In the Text Services and Input Languages dialog box, click the Language Bar tab.

Is there a Qwerty French keyboard?

AZERTY was introduced as a French adaptation of the original QWERTY keyboard on US typewriters at the start of the 20th Century.The letter ù (u-grave) also has its own key, even though it is used in only one word in the entire French language – où, meaning where. But other accented letters are harder to compose.

How do I type an accent over a letter?

You’ll use the Ctrl or Shift key along with the accent key on your keyboard, followed by a quick press of the letter. For example, to get the á character, you’d press Ctrl+’ (apostrophe), release those keys, and then quickly press the A key.

How do you type French accents on a French keyboard?

To type an acute accent (é), type ´ (next to the right-hand shift key) and then e. To type a grave accent (à, è, ù), type ‘ (apostrophe / single quote) then the vowel. The circumflex ˆ and tréma ¨ are in the upper-right corner, side by side next to the enter key. For ç, type ¸ (left of “enter”) and then c.

How do I type French accents in Word?

Here’s the easiest way to type French accents on Word

1. Hold down the “CTRL” key and keep it held down.
2. Tap and release the punctuation mark which looks the most like the accent you need.
3. Tap and release the letter which will have the accent.
4. Let go of the “CTRL” key.

Which font is used in France?

Jean Jannon designed a roman that was misinterpreted as a Garamond under the name Monotype Garamond and that is widely used in France during the XX th century, especially in the publishing house Gallimard.

How do I switch languages on my keyboard?

Add a language on Gboard through Android settings

1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Settings app.
2. Tap System. Languages & input.
3. Under “Keyboards,” tap Virtual keyboard.
4. Tap Gboard. Languages.
5. Pick a language.
6. Turn on the layout you want to use.
7. Tap Done.

How do you use a bilingual keyboard?

To use it, you configure your operating system’s keyboard layout to either US English or Canadian French, and then you use the keyboard as you would an ISO-style US English keyboard or Canadian French keyboard — paying attention to only the labels that are for the keyboard layout you selected.

How do you say keyboard in French?

keyboard

1. clavier, le ~ (m) Noun.
2. clavier standard,

Where is M on French keyboard?

M is moved to the right of L (where colon/semicolon is on a US keyboard), The digits 0 to 9 are on the same keys, but to be typed the shift key must be pressed.

How do you type é?

Key strokes
Microsoft Windows users can type an “é” by pressing Alt + 1 3 0 or Alt + 0 2 3 3 on the numeric pad of the keyboard. “É” can be typed by pressing Alt + 1 4 4 or Alt + 0 2 0 1 .

How do you do accents on a keyboard?

For keyboard shortcuts in which you press one key immediately followed by another key, the keys to press are separated by a comma (,).
Keyboard shortcuts to add language accent marks in Word.

To insert this	Press
á, é, í, ó, ú, ý Á, É, Í, Ó, Ú, Ý	CTRL+’ (APOSTROPHE), the letter
â, ê, î, ô, û Â, Ê, Î, Ô, Û	CTRL+SHIFT+^ (CARET), the letter

How do you put accents over letters on a laptop?

PC Laptop

1. Hold down your Shift key and press the NumLock key (usually located in the top right corner of the keyboard).
2. Add the accent by holding down the Alt and Fn (function) keys and then use the secondary numeric keypad to type the numeric sequence code (Alt-code).

How do you type different letters on a keyboard?

1. Ensure that the Num Lock key has been pressed, to activate the numeric key section of the keyboard.
2. Press the Alt key, and hold it down.
3. While the Alt key is pressed, type the sequence of numbers (on the numeric keypad) from the Alt code in the above table.
4. Release the Alt key, and the character will appear.

How do you write French letters?

To start writing a letter in French, you need the proper salutation and the correct title of the person you are writing to.
Salutations for French Personal Letters.

Cher Monsieur	Dear Sir
Chère Madame	Dear Ma’am
Chère Madame ______	Dear Mrs. _______
Chère Mademoiselle	Dear Miss
Chers amis	Dear friends

How do I type an accented Alt key?

Example. To input the acute a á (0225), hold down the ALT key, type 0225 on the numeric keypad, then release the ALT key.

How do you make a fancy E on the keyboard?

é: Press Ctrl and type “‘” (apostrophe). Release both keys and type “e”. à-è-ù: Press Ctrl and type “`” key (left-hand side, top of the keyboard).

How do you type a French keyboard on a Mac?

To type accents and other French characters, hold the option key while typing the key(s) in the third column, then release everything and press the key in the last column (if any). For example, to type é, hold option key while typing e, then release both and type e again.

If you want to learn the French alphabet because that’s what many French teachers and courses teach first, stop and ask yourself the following question: What for?  

There are many great reasons to learn the French alphabet, as you will see in this article. But there are also lots of great reasons not to learn it — or at least, not to make it the first thing you attempt to master in French.

Should I learn the alphabet in French?

The alphabet is often considered the foundation of a language, and many foreign-language learning programs start students off by learning it.  In reality, learning the French alphabet can be useful, but it’s not going to help you make conversation or expand your vocabulary.  

That’s why French Together doesn’t particularly focus on the alphabet – and why you probably shouldn’t, either.

That’s not to say that you should never bother to learn to pronounce the French alphabet.  But that should probably come after you get down essentials like core vocabulary, basic conjugations, and so on.  

How the French use the alphabet in everyday life

Why learn the French alphabet at all?  Well, like most cultures where a majority of the population is literate, letters are used in a number of ways here in France.  

You might, for example, find yourself in a building like the Préfecture de Paris, whose wings are classified by letter. 

Or maybe you’ll be visiting a friend and have to type in their digicode (door code) to get into the building. Not to mention various activities, like placing an order, fighting with the often unreliable Chronopost about where a package is, or booking a flight, where you’ll probably have to spell out your name or give an order ID or tracking number on the phone. 

If you’re in France even for a short time, you’ll also come across letters in another way. The French love acronyms – making a word out of the first letter in a group of related words. One very common one you’ll see and hear, for example, is the SNCF (Société nationale des chemins de fer), the national train company.  

All this to say, knowing how to pronounce the letters of the French alphabet isn’t essential, but it will come in handy, especially if you plan to visit or live in a French-speaking country.

So, let’s have a look at the alphabet in French.

Before we start, here is what you must know about the French alphabet

If you’re familiar with English, I’ve got some good news: the French alphabet has the same twenty-six letters, in the same order.  Only their names and/or pronunciation are different.

As in English and in many other languages, as well, each French letter can be upper-case (majuscule) or lower-case (minuscule).

Of course, unlike in English, many letters in French also have variants – accents or other symbols added to them that (usually) affect their pronunciation.  These are not included in the basic French alphabet, but they’re important to know, so I’ve included them in my list.

But please note: I’ve included the accented letters in lower-case, because this is how they’re most commonly used.  Officially, it is correct French to use an accent over a letter in both its lower-case and upper-case form; however, in everyday French, many people omit the accent over the upper-case letter.  

And now, without further ado…

The 26 letters of the French alphabet

French letter variants

à – On its own, a with an accent grave (grave accent) is the word for “to”.  It can also be found in words like voilà, where it indicates that the letter’s sound is emphasized.

  â–a with an accent circonflexe (circumflex) is found in the middle of many French words, including château.  While it may not always make a huge difference in terms of sound, this letter and accent combination is a trace of the past: most words in which it’s found originally had the letters as there instead.

As in English, the sound made by c can vary depending on the letter that follows it. If it’s followed by an e, i, or y, it will generally sound like a soft s, as in the word ciel, as opposed to a hard c, as in the word capable.  If it’s followed by an h, as in the word chat, it will make a sound similar to sh in English. 

ç – The cédille (cedilla) is a way for the c to take on a soft (s-like) sound regardless of the letter that follows it – as in the word français.

é – e with an accent aigu (acute accent) can indicate a particular pronunciation, or the past participle or adjective form of a verb.  For example, été.

è – e with an accent grave indicates a particular pronunciation, as in the word crème 

ê – e with an accent circonflexe may either indicate pronunciation or be a sort of monument to an older version of a word, which had es there, instead.  For example, fête.

ë – e with an accent tréma (diaresis) means that this letter must be pronounced apart from those around it, as in the word Noël.

 As in English, the sound made by g can vary depending on the letter that follows it. If it’s followed by an e, i, or y, it will generally sound like a soft g, as in the word orange, as opposed to a hard g, as in the word garçon.  

When it comes to pronunciation, h may be the trickiest letter in the French alphabet.  There are two kinds of “h” in French: h aspiré and h muet.  

As a general rule, if a word that starts with h has Latin origins, the h is muet – that is, it will glide into a preceding vowel, so you have to use l’ instead of le or la (for example, l’horloge) and when the word is pluralized, the s at the end of the article that precedes it combines with the word. For example, les horloges is pronounced “lezorloges.”  

As a general rule, if a word that starts with h comes from any language other than Latin, the h is aspirated -that is, pronounced separately from any preceding words or vowels.  Example: le homard; les homards is pronounced “lay homards”.

Of course, it’s not easy to know the origin of every word, and there are also exceptions.  The only solution I’ve personally found is simply by using and memorizing h words, and even now I occasionally make mistakes or have doubts – as, it seems, so do some native French speakers from time to time.  

Variants: ï – I with an accent tréma means that this letter must be pronounced apart from those around it, as in the word naïve.

  î –I with an accent circonflexe is rarely used today, except with certain verbs, like naître.

Variants: ô – O with an accent circonflexe may either indicate pronunciation or be a sort of monument to an older version of a word, which had os there, instead.  For example, hôtel.

Note that, as in English, ph is pronounced like an f.

As in English, q is always followed by u. 

In French, s generally has a soft sound (sœur, surprise…), unless it is in the middle of a word followed by a vowel – then, it’s pronounced like z, as in réalisation.  The z sound is also used for liaisons between an s and a word that starts with a vowel (or sometimes a silent letter) – for example les étoiles.

Variants:         ù – U with an accent grave is only used to differentiate the words ou (or) and où (where). Pretty crazy, huh?

ü —U with an accent tréma is used very rarely, mostly in words borrowed from other languages. It means that this letter must be pronounced apart from those around it, as in the word Emmaüs (the place, as well as a movement to help the homeless and the eponymous chain of shops that sell used clothing and other items to benefit them)

û – U with an accent circonflexe is rarely used today, except to indicate the past participles of certain verbs, like dû (past participle of devoir).

W’s name translates to “double v”, rather than “double u” in English. In today’s common typography and handwriting styles, this makes a lot more sense!

As in English, y is often treated as a vowel when it comes to its effect on pronunciation or dropping other letters

Variants: Ÿ – You’ll see a Y with an accent tréma mostly in words borrowed from foreign languages or retained from older forms of French or local dialects.  You’ll most often see this character used with the name of an old French village or town.

What about other French alphabetical characters?

Like many other languages, French will often allow for foreign words to be spelled with their original lettering, meaning that accents or characters that aren’t in the French alphabet will be included in these. 

Additionally, there are also two ligatures (ligatures) that you’ll encounter in a number of French words. These typographically and phonetically linked pairs of letters indicate a certain pronunciation.  

The two common French ligatures are:

æ, a blending of the letters a and e. It’s used in some words borrowed directly from Latin, like curriculum vitæ. 

and

œ, a blending of the letters o and e. You’ve probably encountered it in common words like sœur and cœur. 

Luckily, if you or the device you’re writing with can’t make these ligatures, French people will understand the word if you simply write the two letters separately.

Of course, if you’re writing a formal, official, or academic document, the ligature should be used (thank goodness for copy/paste!).

The most common letters in French

The letters most often used in French are e, a, i, s, and n.  

The letters used the least often (not counting accented ones) are x, j, k, w, and z. 

This information may not seem particularly useful, unless you’re trying to become a French Scrabble champion. But it can give insight into French vocabulary and sounds. 

One of the biggest French alphabet pitfalls

If you’re a native or fluent English speaker, one of the most difficult things about the French alphabet is that the letter “j” is pronounced similarly to the letter “g” in English, and vice versa.

This is equally annoying for French-speakers who have to communicate in English. Gad Elmaleh, a French standup megastar who’s currently doing comedy in English in the US, has a very funny story about mixing up these two letters (start at the 40-second mark).

How to learn the French alphabet

If you decide that you want to learn the French alphabet, there are several ways to go about it. Here are just a few suggestions:

1. Learn the alphabet song in French

 You may know this little ditty in your own native language, or in other languages you’ve learned. It exists in French, too, in that same catchy tune. 

You can find different versions of the alphabet song in French by doing an online search. 

This one is my personal favorite, and the one my son used to learn the French alphabet.  The only downside is that what’s sung at the end isn’t the traditional verse, but something that ties into the animated characters’ names.

Still, it’s sung well and pronounced correctly, unlike some versions, which are too fast or use a singer who is not a native speaker.  Check comments under the video to see if there are pronunciation issues.  Once you’ve found a version you like, try to sing it several times a day.

2. Do a dictée. 

Dictées (dictations) are popular in French schools for a reason. You can adapt them to learning letters in several ways. 

For one, you can do online exercises like this one, where you hear a letter, then write it down. Another option is to write down some words, then make yourself spell them out in French.  To check your work, do an online search for the pronunciation of each letter in French.

Other ways to learn the French alphabet include:

• Have a spelling bee.  If you have other friends who are also learning French, challenge each other to spell words with French letters.
• Share secret messages.  Another game to play is spelling out each letter of a secret message to your fellow French-learner, and then having them do the same for you.

Learning the alphabet may not be essential to learning French, but it can be helpful.  Has knowing the French alphabet come in handy for you?