Il fait du soleil – It is sunny
Il fait du soleil. (eel feh du soh-LAY) = It is sunny. I love a bright sunny day in the winter! The air has a special blueness and crispness that doesn’t exist any other time of the year. It is…
Il pleut – It is raining
To say that it is raining in French, say “il pleut.” This is a tricky phrase for English speakers to pronounce. “Il” = eel. That part is easy. The “pl” sound is just like English. The t is silent. The…
u says "oo," almost
The French u sound is different from any sound we have in English. It is very close to the “oo” sound in food, but not exactly the same. To make the French u sound shape your tongue and teeth as…
zh – an unusual sound
The sound that is sometimes represented by zh in phonetic notation is fairly rare in English. In English, we use the zh sound in: g in beige s in usual In French, it is the sound made by the letter j:…
é says "ay"
Sometimes French uses accents to show what kind of sound a certain letter should have. In French é says “ay.” Here are some é words for you to translate. bébé (bay-BAY)téléphone (tay-lay-FUN)éléphant (ay-lay-FAH)café (ca-FAY)télévision (tay-lay-vee-ZYOH) Visit Nallenart for more information…
a says "a" in sack
In French, the letter a makes a short sound like the a in sack. Can you translate these French words based on their sound? sac (sak)radio (rad-YOH)carotte (ca-RUT)table (TA-bluh)salade (sa-LAD) Visit Nallenart for more information about our French curriculum for…
i says "ee"
The letter i says “ee” in French, as in the name Lisa. Here are some French words that use the “ee” sound made by the letter i. Can you tell what these words mean in English? tigre (TEE-gruh)appétit (a-pay-TEE)favori (fa-voh-REE)Bible…
Nasal Sounds in French
Hmmm… nasal sounds? Like somebody snoring? Not exactly! Some French sounds include forcing air through the back of the throat and into the nasal cavities. This cannot be taught by explanation. You need to hear the sounds and try to…
Vowel Sounds in French
French and English share some vowel sounds but others can be quite different. a (short a)sac (SAK) = bag a, â (ah)bas (BAH) = stockinggâteau (gah-TOH) = cakeé, ay, er, ez (long a)bébé (bay-BAY) = babypays (pay-EE) = countryparler (pahr-LAY)…
CH in French
Did you know that the letters CH say “sh” in French? Some English words that have been borrowed from French are pronounced this way, too. Do you know their English meanings? If not, use your dictionary to find out the…