



Knowing the right French accents (les accents français) is essential for proper spelling in French.

Accent marks in French change the pronunciation and meaning of the word.

In this lesson, we will explain how to use French accents.

The French uses many accents, and their prounounciation is quite particular. Here's the list of the accents used in French :





5 accent marks [ edit | edit source ]

There are four French accents for vowels and one for a consonant, the letter "c".

The letter "é" is not pronounced the same as the letter "è". If you are able to hear the difference, you'll also know how to spell a word.

Here is the chart of French accent marks :

Writing Name Example Pronunciation é Accent aigu (acute accent) étudiant (student) Your browser does not support the audio tag.

à, è, ù Accent grave (grave accent) où (where), après (after), J'habite à Paris (I live in Paris) Your browser does not support the audio tag.

â, ê, î, ô,û Accent circonflexe (accent circumflex) forêt (forest), plâtre (plaster), île (island), tôt (early), août (August) Your browser does not support the audio tag.

ë, ï,ü Accent tréma (Diaeresis) Noël (Christmas), naïve (naïve), aiguë (acute) Your browser does not support the audio tag.

ç Cedille (cedilla) garçon (boy) Your browser does not support the audio tag.



More examples [ edit | edit source ]

â : [a]. Examples : château, gâteau.

à : [a]. Examples : Je vais à l'école, déjà.

ç : [ss]. Used to make the "[ss]" sound before "a", "o" and "u". "ce", "ci" and "cy" are already sounding "[ssi]" without any accent (called "cédille" [sedi:]). Examples : ça, garçon.

é : [e]. Examples : chéri, j'ai mangé.

è, ê : [ä]. Examples : fête, tête, Grèce.

ë : [ø]. This letter, used as the female mark of adjectives finishing with an [-u] as an exception. Example : ciguë, exigu (male) --> exiguë (female), contigu (male) --> contiguë (female). The two forms have the same pronounciation ("[ägzigü]").

î : [i]. Examples : île, aîné, gîte.

ï : [i/j]. The pronounciation can be different for different words. Examples : naïf, laïc.

ô : [o]. Used to make a word sound [o] instead of [ɔ]. Examples : tôt, rôti.

œ : [ə]. Examples : œuf, sœur, cœur.

û : [ü]. Examples : dû, mûre, goût.

ü : [ɔ]/[Pronounciation of the original word in the source language]. Letter coming from other languages, except one word. Examples : capharnaüm.

ÿ : [j]. Letter used in some town names. Examples : L'Haÿ-les-Roses.









Accent aigu (acute accent) [ edit | edit source ]

The acute accent is very frequent and can only be used with the letter "e".

Here are some useful words using the "é":

é crire (to write) : J'aime écrire des lettres = I like writing letters

crire (to write) : J'aime écrire des lettres = I like writing letters é t é (summer) : Cet été j'irai à la plage = This summer I will go to the beach

t (summer) : Cet été j'irai à la plage = This summer I will go to the beach école (school) : Son école n'est pas loin d'ici = His school is not far from here

The grave accent is only used with vowels "a", "e", and "u" like in:

Apr è s (after) : Après vous, je vous en prie = After you, please

s (after) : Après vous, je vous en prie = After you, please O ù (where) : Où habites tu ? = Where do you live?

(where) : Où habites tu ? = Where do you live? À (to) : Je suis allé à Paris = I have been to Paris

The accent circumflex appear over any vowel and means that an S used to be in the word after the vowel.

For ê t (forest) : J'aime marcher dans la forêt = I like to walk in the forest

t (forest) : J'aime marcher dans la forêt = I like to walk in the forest H ô pital (hospital) : Je dois aller à l'hôpital = I must go to the hospital

pital (hospital) : Je dois aller à l'hôpital = I must go to the hospital S'il vous pla î t (please) : S'il vous plaît, pourriez-vous m'aider = Could you please help me?

t (please) : S'il vous plaît, pourriez-vous m'aider = Could you please help me? Emb û che (pitfall) : Ce parcours est semé d'embûches = This route is filled with pitfalls.

che (pitfall) : Ce parcours est semé d'embûches = This route is filled with pitfalls. Dégâts (damage) : L'ouragan a fait d'énormes dégâts = The hurricane caused a lot of damage.

Le tréma (the Diaeresis) [ edit | edit source ]

The umlaut appears only over the vowels "e", "i" and "u".

You have to pronounce each vowel separately when you see this accent.

Words using the accent tréma include:

No ë l (Christmas) : Je serai à Paris pour Noël = I will be in Paris for Christmas

l (Christmas) : Je serai à Paris pour Noël = I will be in Paris for Christmas Na ï ve (naïve) : Elle a l'air naïve = She looks naïve.

ve (naïve) : Elle a l'air naïve = She looks naïve. Capharnaüm (mess). C'est un vrai capharnaüm ici = It's a real mess here

La cédille (cedilla) [ edit | edit source ]

The cedilla is also only found under the letter "c".

It changes a hard C sound (like K) into a soft C sound (like S).

Examples:

fran ç ais (French): Apprendre le français = Learn French

ais (French): Apprendre le français = Learn French ça (this) : ça me semble difficile = It looks hard

The videos below will help you identify sounds of accents on the E letter :





Type French accent marks on your computer [ edit | edit source ]

How can you type the French accents if you don't have a French keyboard?







