The French Alphabet - Learn French
Learning French starts with the French alphabet. It is composed of five diacritics and two orthographic ligatures. Depending on which ones is used (é, è, ê, ë), the diacritics change the sound of the word. In France, diacritics are not required on capital letters (on the contrary to Canadian French).
The diacritic marks are:
- the «accent aïgu» / accute ( ´ ) as in « répété » “repeated”
- the « accent grave » ( ` ) as in « manière» “manner”
- the « accent circumflex » ( ˆ ) accents as in « rêve » “dream”
- the « accent tréma » / diaeresis ( ¨ ) as in « judaïque » “jewish”
- the « cedille » /cedilla ( ç ) as in « leçon » “lesson) or “façon/ manner” - ç changes the sound for the c and is always placed before an a, o or u.
The two ligatures are œ and æ. “œ” is a contraction of (o and e) in words such as: « sœur » "sister" /sœʁ/ or « œuvre d’art » "work of art".
“æ” is a rare ligature used only in words of latin or greek origin like: « ex æquo » which means: “ to tie for second place”
Letter |
Sound |
Name |
Phonetic transcription |
Diacritics and ligatures |
Example |
Phonetic |
Translation |
A |
a |
/ɑ/ |
Àà, Ââ, Ææ |
Avec |
a/vek |
With |
|
B |
bé |
/be/ |
|
Bébé |
be/be |
Baby |
|
C |
cé |
/se/ |
Çç |
Café |
ka/fe |
Coffee |
|
D |
dé |
/de/ |
|
Date |
dat |
Date |
|
E |
e |
/ə/ |
Éé, Èè, Êê, Ëë |
Eau |
o |
Water |
|
F |
effe |
/ɛf/ |
|
Fils |
fees |
Son |
|
G |
gé |
/ʒe/ |
|
Geler |
jeuh/lay |
Freeze |
|
H |
osh |
/aʃ/ |
|
Hôtel |
oh/tayl |
Hotel |
|
I |
i |
/i/ |
Îî, Ïï |
Ile |
eel |
Island |
|
J |
ji |
/ʒi/ |
|
Jaune |
joo-n |
Yellow |
|
K |
ka |
/kɑ/ |
|
Képi |
kay/ pee |
Hat |
|
L |
elle |
/ɛl/ |
|
Laine |
lay / ne |
Wool |
|
M |
emme |
/ɛm/ |
|
Marché |
mar/ chay |
Market |
|
N |
enne |
/ɛn/ |
|
Noir |
nwaar |
Black |
|
O |
o |
/o/ |
Ôô, Œœ |
Orange |
oor/ ange |
Orange |
|
P |
pé |
/pe/ |
|
Pierre |
Pee/ er |
Stone |
|
Q |
qu |
/ky/ |
|
Qui |
kee |
Who |
|
R |
erre |
/ɛʁ/ |
|
Rêve |
rave |
Dream |
|
S |
esse |
/ɛs/ |
|
Soleil |
sol/ eye |
Sun |
|
T |
té |
/te/ |
|
Tasse |
tas |
Cup |
|
U |
u |
/y/ |
Ùù, Ûû, Üü |
Unique |
uhn/ eek |
Unique |
|
V |
vé |
/ve/ |
|
Ville |
veel |
City |
|
W |
double vé |
/dubləve/ |
|
Wallis et Futuna |
walis-e-futuna |
Walis and Futuna islands |
|
X |
ixe |
/iks/ |
|
Xylophone |
ksi- lo - fon |
Xylophone |
|
Y |
i grec |
/iɡʁɛk/ |
Ÿÿ |
Yougoslave |
yugoslav |
Yugoslavian |
|
Z |
zède |
/zɛd/ |
|
Zébré |
zebre |
Striped |