Like that of English — and unlike almost all the other Romance languages — French spelling is not necessarily phonetic. The same letter used in two different words can make two different sounds, and many letters are not pronounced at all. In general, it’s not impossible to sound out words, but suffice it to say that many experienced non-native French speakers — and some native speakers — mispronounce words often.

One thing to note is that final consonants of a word are usually dropped: allez (go) is pronounced ahl-AY, not ahl-AYZ; tard (late) is pronounce tar, not tard. Also a final “e” is usually silent. But if the next word begins with a vowel, the consonant may be pronounced; this is called liaison.

Stress is fairly even in French, but the stress almost always falls on the last syllable.

For many French words, it is impossible to write something which, when pronounced as English, sounds like the French word. Use the transliteration as a guide to liaison and the French spelling to pronounce the vowels.

Vowels

Vowels in French can have accent marks, which generally have no noticeable impact on pronunciation, but they often distinguish between homophones in writing (ou, meaning or, and où, meaning where, are pronounced the same). The only really important one is é, which is always pronounced “ay”, and changes the meaning of the word.

a, à, â
like “a” in “father”
e
in most cases a central neutral vowel (“schwa”) like “a” in “about”, sometimes not pronounced at all, sometimes like “é” or “è”
é, è, ai, -er, -es, -ez
é is a bit like “ay” in “day”, è is more towards “e” in “set”, but many French people don’t even distinguish them, you can consider them equivalent
i, î
like “ee” in “see” but shorter and tenser
o, ô, au, eau
generally like “oa” in “boat” or “aw” in “law”, can be considered equivalent
u, ù
like a very tight, frontal “oo” sound (purse your lips as if to say “oo” as in “soon” but try and say “ee”) – uu in transcriptions
ou
like “oo” in “food”, but a pure vowel
y
like “ee” in “see”
eu
between “ew” in “dew” and “ur” in “burp”; written eu in transcriptions

Semi-vowels

oi
like “wa” in “walk”
oui
like “wee” in “week”
ui
like “wee” in “week”, but with a French uu instead of the w
œ
a bit like “eu” but more “open”

Consonants

Note: Most final consonants are silent except for c, q, f, l, and r (except in the combination “-er”, normally found in verb infinitives). Note that the “-ent” ending for verbs is never pronounced, though it may be pronounced in other places.

b
like “b” in “bed”
c
like “k” in “kill” (before “a”, “o”, and “u” or before a consonent), like “s” in “sun” (before “e”, “i”, and “y”)
ç
like “s” in “sun” (this letter can only be written before “a” ,”o”, or “u”)
d
like “d” in “death” (but a bit heavier than in English, and pronounced on the tongue)
f
like “f” in “fun”
g
like “g” in “go” (before “a”, “o”, and “u” or before a consonent), like “g” in “sabotage” (before “e”, “i” and “y”).
gu
like “g” in “goose” (before “e”, “i”, “y”)
gn
like “ny” in “canyon”. This is particularly difficult (even for little French kids) when followed by oi, as in baignoire (beh-NYWAR) “bathtub”.
h
usually silent, but may sometimes prevent a liaison with the former word
j
like “g” in “sabotage”
k
like “k” in “kill” (not native to French)
l, ll
like “l” in “like”; some exceptions for “ll” in the combination “ille” (pronounced ee-yuh)
m
like “m” in “me”
n
like “n” in “nurse” (but see Nasals below)
p
like “p” in “push” (unaspirated like the t)
q(u)
most of the time like “k” in “kill” (not like “qu” in “quick”); in some words like “qu” in “quick” (generally before an “a”) or the same but with a French u (generally before an “i”)
r
guttural; kind of like coughing up a hairball (similar to a German “ch”)
s
like “s” in “sun”; like “z” in “zero” (between two vowels)
ch
like “sh” in “bush”; sometimes like “k” in “kill” (in words of Greek origin mostly)
t, th
like “t” in “take” (unaspirated, it should sound dry and on the tongue, like a spanish speaker)
v
like “v” in “value”
w
only in foreign words, mostly like “w” in “wise” and sometimes like “v” in “value” (in particular, “wagon” is “vagon” and “WC” is “VC”!)
x
either ks (like “x” in “exit”) or gz
z
like “z” in “zero”
ph
like “f” in “fun”

Nasals

an, en, em
nasal a (not always pronounced as a nasal, especially if the n or m is doubled: emmental is pronounced as a normal “emm” sound)
on
nasal o – distinguishing between this and “an” is tricky, it’s a deeper, more closed sound
in, ain
nasal è
un
nasal eu (almost always pronounced the same as ‘in’)
oin
nasal “wè” (thus, coin is a nasalised “cwè”)

Diphthongs

ail
like “i” in “fight”
ill
either literally, or like “y” in “three years”, with some exceptions (ville is veel, fille is fiy)

Exceptions

  • When there is an accent mark on “e”, it prevents diphthongs. Letters should be pronounced separately, following the rule for the accented letter. Example: énergumène, (rowdy character), réunion (meeting).
  • A diaeresis (“) may also be used to prevent diphthongs on “e”, “u” and “i”. Example: maïs (maize).
  • In the combinations “gue” and “gui”, the “u” should not be pronounced, it is there only to force the prononciation of “g” as in “go”. If the “u” is pronounced, a diaeresis is added on the 2nd vowel : aiguë (sharp).
  • In the combination “geo”, the “e” should not be pronounced, it is only there to force the prononciation of “g” as in “sabotage” (in the case the “e” should be pronounced, it is indicated with an accent mark as in géologie).

Note you should try not to pronounce the “G” where “NG” is used in the prononciation hint.