Some basics about French pronunciation

• You never pronounce « s » when it is at the end of a noun.

Les boulangeries

« s » shows that the noun is plural. You never pronounce « s » when the word is plural.

• In general, you do not pronounce the letter « e » at the end of a noun.

But « e » can influence the pronunciation of the last syllable.

Curieuse

You pronounce the word: curieuz***

You need to pronounce the last consonant because of the presence of « e » at the end of the word.

• In general, you do not pronounce the last consonant: intelligent (you do not pronounce “t”)

• The links:

Les écoles = lezécol***

2 words

Les = lé / écoles

In French, we tend to avoid the pronunciation of 2 consecutive vowels. So we make links.

In les écoles. « s » is pronounced « z » to make the pronunciation easier.

• “e” is always silent at the end of a word.

l’école  There is “e” at the end, but you just pronounce “l”.

• When a verb finishes by -ent, you never pronounce these letters.         Ils dansent = il dans (you do not pronounce -ent but you have to pronounce the last consonant).

• – tion: réception; révolution… You certainly understand these words. But be careful, the pronunciation of the last syllable is -sion

Listen to the pronunciation of the words written in italics in this article: