Lesson 1 : The French alphabet – Première leçon : L’alphabet français

 

The French alphabet has the same 26 letters as the English one. But the pronunciation can be very different due to intracies, silent letters, multiple pronunciations for a same letter. In French there is also accent and cedilla. But we will see this part later.

Here is a great tab to help you to strat with the very basics of the French language

French alphabet – alphabet français

In order to teach you the French name of the 26 letters, we have to use the « é » as you know it in the word fiancé and the letter « i » as it is pronunced in French (as  in the « e » English, for example in the word victory). Those French names are very important if you have to spell your name in any situation.

Letter	French name	Pronunciation in French	Example	Translation
A,a	a	A as in English father	Abricot	Apricot
B,b	bé	B as in English (but no air expelled)	Banane	Banana
C,c	cé	S as in English place	Cerise	Cherry
		K as in English cat	Colle	Glue
D,d	dé	D as in English	Dinde	Turkey
E,e	euh	E as in English towel	Exemple	Example
F,f	èf	F as in English	Fleur	Flower
G,g	gé	G as in English Garage	Gazon	Lawn
		J as in English Garage	Gel	Frost
H,h	ash	H as in English but always silent	Haricot	Bean
I,i	i	I as in English to be	Ile	Island
J,j	ji	as in English jungle but don’t pronunce the « d »	Jupe	Skirt
K,k	ka	K as in English	Kilomètre	Kilometer
L,l	èl	L as in English	Lit	Bed
M,m	èm	M as in English	Maison	House
N,n	èn	N as in English	Non	No
O,o	o	O as in English hole	Os	Bone
P,p	pé	P as in English (but no air expelled)	Place	Place
Q,q	qu	K as in English cat	Quelques	Some
R,r	ère	R pronunce very strongly as J in Spanish	Robe	Dress
S,s	èsse	S as in English school	Sucre	Sugar
T,t	té	T as in English	Thé	Tea
U,u	u	very specific voyel, as in vertu	Un	One
V,v	vé	V as in English	Voiture	Car
W,w	double Vé	V as in English victory	Wagon (pronunce Vagon)	Wagon
X,x	iks	X as in English	Xylophone	Xylophone
Y,y	i grec	Y as in English	Yeux	Eyes
Z,z	Zed	Z as in English	Zone	Area