ODD PRONUNCIATION rules to remember
Do
you know the following FROG rules ?
You will have to remember them and apply them when you speak/read aloud French texts.
- No U is pronounced after Q or G
- final consonants are mostly silent with the exception of CRFL
- silent final consonants can become linking sounds before a vowel or h
- double consonants are read as one
- –er at the end of polysyllabic words is pronounced like é in été;eg. parler, manger
- –er at the end of monosyllabic words is pronounced like -èr in père; eg. le fer, la mer
- –er- inside polysyllabic words is pronounced like -èr in père; eg. merci, une personne
- How to pronounce the French r ? ; get assistance from teacher or click HERE and find R in the menu. But here is a quick idea: glue the tip of your tongue behind the lower front teeth while you try to curle up the back of your tongue as a mad cat. In doing so you create a narrow passage for the air flow from your lungs. That high jet air stream flaps the UVULA a few times ( the hanging bit of your soft palate in the back of your mouth) and that's the French R.NOW, practise saying the following GR+VOWEL combinations: GRand, GRis, GRos, GRé, GRu, GRond, GRou and then start again and again. But by the time you start reading some French text, please try to forget this practice session. OK? The French R should become your second nature by then.
- No aspiration after p, t, k; get your teacher to explain it to you
- How to pronounce the French u ? ; eg. get assistance from teacher or click HERE and find relevant info in the menu for U.
- the French H is silent like the English ; eg. honest, honor, hour .......or click HERE and find relevant info.
- the consonant cluster GT is silent: eg. vingt
- GN is pronounced the ni in onion = oignon
- -il after a vowel is pronounced like Y in English SAY. eg. le travail (the noun)
- -ille after a vowel is pronounced like Y in English SAY. eg. je travaille( the verb) ..... Exception: ville, tranquille where it is pronounced (VEAL and TRUNKEEL)
- -ille : when not preceded by a vowel is pronounced -EEY, eg FILLE ( pronounced FEEY)
- -e : the final -E without an accent on it, in the last syllable of a word, is
SILENT in French, just like the English one. Eg. English ...table... French ...
table ..
- BUT: The the accented "é" in any position will have to be pronounced as in "été". Eg. society = société, beauty = beauté, I worked = j'ai travaillé
- Negative VERBS only take a DE or D' without paying attention to the gender of the following noun. Eg. je n'ai pas de copains. Je n'ai pas d'amis.
- Mesure words also ONLy take a DE or D' without paying attention to the gender of the following noun. Eg. un kilo de, une bouteille de, un packet de, beaucoup de, peu de etc.
- DE : when you
mean SOME in English you pay attention to the gender and number of the following
noun and apply the fusion rules: de+le= du, de+ les= des de+ la= de la, de + l' =
-
de l'
eg.du fromage svp, merci
de la bière svp, merci
des bananes/ de l'eau svp, merci
-
de l'
- À : when in English you mean
TO, IN, WITH please pay attention to the gender and number of the noun
that follows and apply the fusion rules à+ le= au, à + la= à la, à + les = aux, à + l' = à
l'
-
eg. au cinéma, un sandwich au jambon, à la laitue, aux petis pois, à
l'huile..... etc
ATTENTION: towns, villages will always take à only as preposition, to mean IN or TO (very few exceptions) eg. à Brisbane, à Paris
-
eg. au cinéma, un sandwich au jambon, à la laitue, aux petis pois, à
l'huile..... etc
- The French do not often use prepositions in time phrases: on Monday = lundi, ATTENTION: on Mondays/ every Monday = le lundi. Also, le matin, le soir , le weekend etc.
- When TWO VERBS meet the 2nd verb will mostly be in
the INFINITIVE or PAST PARTICIPLE or PRESENT PARTICIPLE;
- some do not have preposition between them. eg. j'aime manger
- some have the À preposition compulsorily between them. eg. je continue à travailler
- some have DE compulsorily between them. eg. j'oublie de téléphoner
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