INTRODUCTION TO BASIC
FRENCH PART 1
Let's Get Started!- Allons-y!
COME ON
• "Welcome to this introductory French course! In this
presentation, we'll cover some basic aspects of the
French language, including the alphabet, common
phrases, and essential vocabulary. Whether you're
planning to travel, enhance your cultural knowledge, or
start a new hobby, learning French is a great step
forward!"
FUN FACT
• French is the second most widely
learned language after English and the
fifth most Widely spoken language in the
world.
AUJOURD'HUI ON VA APPRENDRE L’ALPHABETS.
RÉPÉTEZ APRÈS -MOI !MES ÉLÈVES
L’ALPHABET EN FRANÇAIS
"The French
alphabet consists of
26 letters, just like
the English alphabet.
However, some
letters are
pronounced
differently."
L'ALPHABET
EN
FRANÇAIS
L'ALPHABET
EN
FRANÇAIS
L'ALPHABET
EN
FRANÇAIS
A ah
AVION (PLANE) ARBRE (TREE) AMI (FRIEND) ANIMAL
(ANIMAL)
B (bay)
Bonbon – Banane : Bébé- Bougie
Candy Banana Baby (f)-Candle
C(say)
Chapeau
Chat
Dent-
tooth
Docteur
(m./f.) (doctor)
E
écharpe
(scraf)
F eff
Fille-little Fleur – Fée (f.) – Facteur-
girl flower Fairy (postman)
G jay
GÂTEAU
GARÇON
H
aash
HORLOGE
HIVER
winter
ee
IGLOU
ÎLe
gee
JONGLEUR
KIWI
KANGOUROU
(m.)
(kangaroo)
ell
LUNE
LAMPE(F)
em
MANGUE
MER
en NAVET
Noël (m.)
oh
OIGNON
ŒUF ORDINATEUR (M.)
pay
POire
PARAPLUIE POISSON
kew
QUESTION
QUATRE
RÈGLE
err
ROI
ess
SALADE
UNIFORME
VOTRE DEVOIR POUR
AUJOURD'HUI EST D'ÉCRIRE
DES NOMS EN COMMENÇANT
PAR L’ALPHABETS
LES ACCENTS
• 1. Accent Aigu (É)-Acute accent
• The accent aigu (é) is only used
on the letter "e" and indicates a
different pronunciation.
• é: pronounced like "ay" in "play".
• Examples:
• Café (coffee)
• École (school)
• Étudiant (student)
The accent grave (à, è, ù) is used on "a",
"e", and "u".
2.Accent à: does not change the pronunciation of "a"
Grave but distinguishes words (e.g., "à" meaning
"to" vs. "a" meaning "has").
(À, È,
Ù)
Examples:
• Voilà (there it is)
• À demain (see you tomorrow)
• là (There)
2.1 è: pronounced like "eh" in "bet".
Examples:
2.1 Accent
Frère (brother)
Grave (À, È,
Très (very)
Père (father)
Ù) ù: only used in the word "où" (where) to distinguish
it from "ou" (or).
Example:
Où (where)
The accent circonflexe (â, ê, î, ô, û) can appear on all vowels and
often indicates that an "s" used to follow that vowel in Old
French.
â: pronounced the same as "a".
3. Accent Examples:
Circonflexe
• Pâte (dough)
• Âge (age)
(Â, Ê, Î, Ô,
ê: pronounced like "eh" in "bet", similar to "è".
Û) Examples:
• Forêt (forest)
• Être (to be)
• Fête (party)
3. Accent î: pronounced the same as "i".
Circonflex Examples:
Île (island)
Maître (master/teacher)
e (Â, Ê, Î, ô: pronounced the same as "o".
Ô, Û) Hôtel (hotel)
Examples:
Côte (coast)
û: pronounced the same as "u".
Dû (due, past participle of
Examples: devoir)
Sûr (sure)
4. Tréma
(Ë, Ï, Ü)
5. Cédille
(Ç)
SUMMARY
il y a des mots qui prennent un accent aigu et un accent grave, comme :
❑ Célèbre-well known
❑ éphémère –transient
❑ géomètre –geometer
❑ Métèque-metic
LES ACCENTS
BASIC PRONOUNCIATION
RULES
The 7 trickiest
French letters
to pronounce
– and how to
master them
The 7 trickiest
French letters
to pronounce
– and how to
master them
The 7
trickiest
French
letters to
pronounce –
and how to
master them
• The letter h isn’t usually pronounced in French words unless it’s
associated with a c, making the [ch] sound
• Ex:blanche ,hôtel ,honnête ,heure .
• The letter u isn’t pronounced if it appears after a, g or q, but it
changes the pronunciation of the g.
• Ex gueule ,quoi, question ,aigu .
• The letter n is silent when associated with another letter that creates
Silent a nasal sound, like [en] or [an].
• ex:enfant,chanson ,dans ,vent
letters • The letter i isn’t pronounced if it comes after an o because oi in
French is meant to sound like [wa].
• Ex: moi ,toi ,boîte ,loi
• The e at the end of a word is typically silent unless the e has an acute
accent symbol (é).
• Ex:grande ,petite ,chance ,simple
• The letters s, x, t, d, g, and p are usually silent if they appear at the
ends of words.
• Ex:gris ,prix,chat, froid,long ,trop
Oral vowels
Oral vowels are covered by these IPA sounds: [a], [ɑ], [e], [ǝ], [Ɛ], [i], [o], [ø], [ↄ], [œ], [u], [y].
• The [a] sound uses the letter a, as in Paris. The English equivalent is apple.
• The [e] sound uses e-acute (é) and the letter combinations er, et, ai and ez.
Examples in French include été (summer) and nez (nose). The English equivalent is okay.
• The [Ɛ] sound uses e-circumflex (ê), e and the letter combinations ai and ei.
Examples in French include laine (wool) and lettre (letter). The English equivalent is felt.
• The [i] sound uses i, y and i-circumflex (î).
Examples in French include livre (book) and île (island). The English equivalent is see.
• The [o] sound uses o, o-circumflex (ô), and letter combinations au and eau.
Examples in French include eau (water) and mot (word). The English equivalent is float.
Nasal
vowels:[ã],
[ɛ]
̃ , [œ̃],
[ɔ]̃ .
The [ã] sound uses letter
combinations like an, am, aon,
en and em. Examples in French
include vent (wind) and sans
an (without). The similar English
sans without equivalent is man.
mange –eat
am
lampe -lamp
ambulance –ambulance
aon
paon - peacock
The [ã] sound uses
taon - horsefly letter combinations
like an, am, aon,
en en and em. Examples in
French include vent
vent - wind
(wind) and sans
encore - again (without). The similar
English equivalent is
em man.
temps - time
example - example
in The [ɛ]̃ sound uses
vin - wine letter combinations
pain (pronounced [pɛ̃]) - bread like in, im, ain, aim,
un, ym, en,
im ein and ain. Example
impossible (pronounced [ɛp
̃ ɔsibl]) - impossible s in French include
simple (pronounced [sɛp
vin (wine) and
̃ l]) - simple
chien (dog). The
ain English equivalent is
demain (pronounced [dəmɛ̃]) - tomorrow pin.
main (pronounced [mɛ̃]) - hand
The [ɛ]̃ sound uses aim
letter combinations faim - hunger
like in, im, ain, aim,
un, ym, en, essaim - swarm
ein and ain. Example un
s in French include un - one
vin (wine) and
chien (dog). The brun - brown
English equivalent is
pin. ym
thym - thyme
symphonie - symphony
en
examen - exam
agenda - agenda
The [ɛ]̃ sound uses ein
letter combinations
like in, im, ain,
aim, un, ym, en, plein - full
.
ein and ain. Examp rein - kidney
les in French ain
include vin (wine)
and chien (dog). bain - bath
The English train - train
equivalent is pin.
The [ɔ]̃ sound on
uses letter front (pronounced [fʁɔ̃]) - forehead
combinations on a maison (pronounced [mɛzɔ̃]) - house
nd om. Examples bon (pronounced [bɔ̃]) - good
in French include non (pronounced [nɔ̃]) - no
front (forehead) , om
compagnon (com
nom (pronounced [nɔ̃]) - name
panion),nom-
name ,bomb. The compagnon (pronounced [kɔ̃paɲɔ̃]) - companion
English equivalent bombe (pronounced [bɔ̃b]) - bomb
is long. compter (pronounced [kɔ̃te]) - to count
brun (pronounced [bʁœ̃]) - brown
The [œ̃] sound lundi (pronounced [lœ̃ di]) - Monday
uses letter un (pronounced [œ̃ ]) - one
combinations un a aucun (pronounced [okœ̃]) - none
nd um. Examples
um
in French include
brun (brown) and parfum (pronounced [paʁfœ̃]) - perfume
parfum (perfume) humble (pronounced [œ̃ bl]) - humble
. The English album (pronounced [albɔm] but with the nasalized
equivalent is [œ̃ ] in some dialects) - album
bunk. forum (pronounced [fɔʁœ̃]) - forum (with the
nasalized [œ̃ ] in some dialects)
• The [j] sound uses the letters i, ll, il and yas in the below
words
• Examples
• i: crier (pronounced [kʁije]) - to shout
• ll: fille (pronounced [fij]) - girl
• il: travail (pronounced [tʁavaj]) - work
• y: payer (pronounced [peje]) - to pay
Semi-vowels • The [w] uses the letters ou and o, as in moyen (way) and oui
(yes).
• ou: oui (pronounced [wi]) - yes
• o: oiseau (pronounced [wazo]) - bird
• oi: loi (pronounced [lwa]) - law
• oy: moyen (pronounced [mwajɛ̃]) - way
• .
The [ɥ] uses the letter u, as in huit (eight). The
English equivalent is suite
u: huit (pronounced [ɥit]) - eight
Semi-vowels ue: muet (pronounced [mɥɛ]) - mute
ui: puis (pronounced [pɥi]) - then
uel: actuel (pronounced [aktɥɛl]) - current
• In French, certain consonants are silent when they are the
Final final letter of a word. The letters p (as in 'coup'), s(as in
consonants
'héros'), t (as in 'chat'), d (as in 'marchand'), and x (as in
'paresseux'), are generally not pronounced at the end of a
word. They are pronounced if there is an e letter after
('coupe', 'chatte', 'marchande', etc.)
Dental
consonants
• The letters d, l, n,s, t, and z are
pronounced with the tip of the tongue
against the lower teeth and the middle
• of the tongue against the roof of the
mouth. In English, one would pronounce
these letters with the tip of the
• tongue at the roof of one's mouth. It is
very difficult to pronounce a word like
'voudrais' properly with the d formed in
the English manner.
