This post is the crux of what I learnt!

If you’re a beginner, check out section one on nasal vowel sounds – which is useful at any level – then come back for the rest when you start learning A2-B1 material.

For the rest of you, there are PDF versions of a lot of the information shared in this post; look out for the white boxes.

1. Nasal vowel sounds (A1-A2)
2. Differentiating between e, é, è, ê and ë (A2-B1)
3. Possessive adjectives with feminine nouns starting with a vowel or muted h (B1)
4. Liaisons (B1-B2)
   1. Compulsory liaisons
   2. Forbidden liaisons
5. When to pronounce the final consonant of a word (B2)
   1. Rare final consonants in French
   2. 1. Final consonants that are mostly voiced
   3. 2. Final consonants that are mostly silent
6. Final thoughts

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Nasal vowel sounds (A1-A2)

There are between 3 to 4 nasal sounds in French. Some accents will distinguish 4 vowel sounds in the sentence un bon vin blanc, whereas others will distinguish 3.

If you’ve now completed the exercise the teacher did at the end of the video above, try pronouncing the sounds in the image below:

It’s all in the shape of you make with your mouth!

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Differentiating between e, é, è, ê and ë (A2-B1)

The beauty of the many French Es is that you only need to learn three sounds:

Letter	Sound	Example
e	Schwa OR silent	je / table
é	“ay” (say)	été
è / ê / ë (separated)	“eh” (bed)	fête / mère / Noël

Now try practising yourself with the image below:

There are exceptions – it’s French, after all. Guillaume goes through some in his video here.

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Possessive adjectives with feminine nouns starting with a vowel or muted h (B1)

Over the centuries, guardians of the language have tweaked French to ensure speakers produce only the most beautiful sound sequences.

In the case of possessive adjectives with feminine nouns starting with a vowel or muted h, it’s to avoid a vowel-vowel collision.

We do this in English too, which is why we say “an hour,” not “a hour,” and “an apple,” not “a apple.”

Here are a few examples:

✓ mon idée (not ma idée) – “my idea” ✓ mon école (not ma école) – “my school” ✓ mon horloge (not ma horloge) – “my clock” ✓ mon erreur (not ma erreur) – “my mistake” ✓ mon impression (not ma impression) – “my impression”

This also applies to possessive adjectives in other forms: ✓ ton erreur (not ta erreur) – “your mistake” ✓ ton habitude (not ta habitude) – “your habit” ✓ son école (not sa école) – “his/her school”

Luckily, since plural possessive adjectives are genderless, this rule does not affect nouns in the plural: ✓ mes amies – “my (female) friends” ✓ tes habitudes – “your habits”

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Liaisons (B1-B2)

A liaison is the pronunciation of a normally silent final consonant when the next word begins with a vowel sound, creating a smooth link between words in spoken French.

There are 3 types of liaisons in French:

1. La liaison obligatoire = compulsory liaison
2. La liaison facultative = optional liaison
3. La liaison interdite = forbidden or “dangerous” liaison

Compulsory liaisons

You must link the words in the following cases:

Between determiner and noun un, aucun, des, mon, ton, trois, cent… e.g. des‿amis	Between pronoun and verb on, ils, nous, vous, en… e.g. nous‿avons	Between adjective and noun de longues‿études
Between verb and inverted subject imperative form: Allons‿y ! questions: Où est‿-il allé ?	After a monosyllabic adverb très, trop, bien, plus, moins… e.g. très‿agréable	After a monosyllabic preposition dans, dès, sans, chez, sous… e.g. dans‿un instant

Fixed expressions: tout‿à l’heure, de temps‿en temps, de mieux‿en mieux, c’est‿à dire, Quand‿est-ce que…

Forbidden liaisons

Do not link the words in the following cases, lest you risk the French thinking you’re a lunatic:

After singular nouns Un enfant | adorable	After proper nouns Paris | est beau
After et un pain au chocolat et | un café	Before words with an aspirated “H” en | haut, les | haricots
After a verb in the singular Elle écrit | une lettre	Before onze and oui les | onze personnes
After comment, combien and toujours toujours | aimable	After inversion Parlez-vous | espagnol ?

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When to pronounce the final consonant of a word (B2)

Roughly 28% of French words end with a silent letter. This includes vowels.

Let’s break down the consonants, which are harder to diagnose as voiced or silent.

Rare final consonants in French

The letters -k, -q and -b are rare at the end of a word; some of the few words that exist with these letters are:

Voiced b: le club, le snob, le Maghreb.	Silent b: le plomb.
Voiced k: l’anorak, le bifteck, le look.	Voiced q: le coq, cinq.

The other consonants can be split into two categories:

1. Final consonants that are mostly voiced
2. Final consonants that are mostly silent

1. Final consonants that are mostly voiced

The first category – final consonants that are mostly voiced – can be memorised with a mnemonic: the consonants in the word CaReFuL.

Naturally, there are a number of exceptions, which just need to be learnt.

	Ca	Re	Fu	L
Examples	le parc le choc donc l’arc public le sac grec sec	any noun ending in -eur: acteur, rêveur, or -er: boulanger (pronounced “é”) verbs ending in -ir hiver hier clair	adjectives ending in “f”: créatif, vif, neuf surf juif sauf chef soif	le fil le péril nul avril util
Exceptions	le porc le tabac l’accroc blanc l’estomac le banc	verbs ending in -er masculine adjectives ending in “r”: léger, étranger, premier, dernier, entier	le cerf la clef le nerf les oeuf	l’outil gentil

2. Final consonants that are mostly silent

Words ending in d, g, p, s, t, x and z are more often silent.

However, because it’s French, there are plenty of exceptions in each category; here are some examples:

	Examples	Exceptions
D	chaud le canard grand gourmand	le sud
G	le coing le bourg le sang long le poing le rang	words ending in “ing”: le camping, le jogging, l’iceberg
P	beaucoup trop le champ le coup le drap le loup le sirop	le top le stop le rap
S	gris le pois le temps trois vous/nous/ils “s” verb ending: je vis, tu finis	le fils le bus l’ours
T	le chat le bout le secret inquiet concret minuit le poulet	le but net l’est l’ouest huit brut
X	le voix deux le prix heureux noun and adjective plurals: les châteaux, nouveaux, les journaux	l’intox le vortex le lynx six and dix – except before a noun beginning with a consonant: dix minutes
Z	verbs in the second person plural: copiez, parlez, allez chez assez le riz le nez	le gaz

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Final thoughts

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