Sometimes one of the hardest aspects of learning French isn’t remembering the right words to use – it’s remembering how to pronounce those words correctly.
As we discussed last month, it’s understandable that non-native speakers have difficulties with pronunciation. The French language is full of silent endings, liaisons, and unfamiliar accents. Your lips, mouth and tongue have to move differently to pronounce these words, as French natives do. And you have to learn to hear it when you’re not pronouncing a word properly.
Why French Vowels Seem So Hard
French vowels present a particularly difficult challenge for most foreigners, especially English speakers. Unlike in English, all French vowels are pure. This means that they only contain one sound when you pronounce them, and that sound is short. Even though French vowels only contain one sound, one vowel might have different sounds in different words (e.g., de rien). What’s more, the vowel sound may become more nasal when followed by a consonant like M or N.
By contrast, in English, many vowel sounds contain more than one vowel sound (e.g., “time”) or a long sound (e.g., face). To produce these sounds, English speakers must move their tongue and mouth more than is usually necessary in French – a habit that causes problems when trying to replicate a French accent.
French Vowel Pronunciation Chart
This vowel pronunciation chart will help you learn the correct French vowel sound and the mouth/tongue movement you need to produce it. Whenever you’re preparing for a French lesson or know you’re going to have a conversation in French, spend 5-10 minutes reviewing this chart – aloud, naturally – and we bet you’ll notice an improvement in your pronunciation.
Vowel
a à
e
e
e
é
è, ê
i, ï, î, y
o
o, ô, eau, au
u
ai
eu, oeu
oi
English Sound
ahh (father)
uh (above)
eh (best)
ay (may)
ay (may)
eh (pair)
ee (police, ski)
ohh (October)
oh (hello, go)
Similar to “ew”
eh (pair)
uh (sir)
wa (one)
French Example
quatre, madame
le, ne
merci, example
parlez
café
Pêre, fête
merci, dîner, typique
olive, octobre
gros, hôtel, beau
une, du
lait, s’il vous plaît
leur, soeur
bonsoir
Movement
Open your mouth wider than in English, drop your jaw farther
Purse your lips and keep tongue against lower teeth
Keep mouth opening small, tongue against lower teeth
Keep mouth opening small, drop your jaw a little bit
Keep mouth opening small, drop your jaw a little bit
Keep mouth small, tongue against lower teeth
Stretch mouth into a near-smile, but keep the sound short
Round lips slightly, keep mouth opening small
Keep lips round; keep sound short
Say “oo” ; while lips are in that position, try saying “ee”
Keep mouth small, tongue against lower teeth (same as è, ê)
Keep mouth opening small, drop your jaw a little bit with (same e)
Start with rounded lips, then stretch lips back slightly
If you have any questions about French vowel pronunciation, ask us in the comments below or contact us!