🇫🇷 French for beginners (A1) · Chapter 1

French sounds: the alphabet, accents and pronunciation

French spelling looks chaotic until you learn about ten rules, and then you can read almost any word aloud correctly. Hindi speakers already have two of the hardest sounds.

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The basics

French pronunciation is a small set of rules that turns spelling into sound. It looks irregular to English speakers, but it is far more predictable than English.

The problem it solves: if you learn words only from the page, you will say Paris as Pa-RISS and croissant as croy-sant. Nobody in Paris will understand you, and you will not recognise the words when you hear them. Get the sounds right in week one and every later lesson becomes easier.

The mental model: French writes more letters than it says. The end of a word is mostly silent, accents change the vowel sound, and a few letter pairs make one sound (ou = oo, oi = wa, au = oh). Vowels followed by n or m often become nasal — the same nasal sound as Hindi हाँ (hāñ) or माँ (māñ).

How to read our respellings: CAPITALS mark the slightly stronger last syllable, zh is the s in measure, ü means say ee with lips rounded for oo, and ahn / ohn / an are nasal — do not actually pronounce the n.

Explained

Say these the way an English speaker would: Paris, croissant, Renault, Moët.

Now the French way: pa-REE, krwa-SAHN, ruh-NOH, mo-ET.

Every difference comes from a handful of rules. Learn them now, once, and you'll read French aloud for the rest of the course instead of guessing.

The silent guests at a wedding

At a big Indian wedding, the family list has 400 names but only 250 people actually turn up and speak. The rest are on the card for politeness.

French spelling is that card. Ils parlent has 11 letters but sounds like eel PARL — the s and the -ent are on the list but never show up.

So don't read French letter by letter. Read it like a host who knows which guests actually come: the front of a word usually shows up, the end usually doesn't.

The alphabet and the accents

Letters that surprise people when you spell:

| Letter | Say | Letter | Say | |---|---|---|---| | E | uh | I | ee | | G | zhay | J | zhee | | H | ahsh | R | air | | U | ü | W | doo-bluh-VAY | | Y | ee-GREK | Q | kü |

The accents:

• é (aigu) → ay: café (ka-FAY), été
• è / ê (grave, circonflexe) → eh: très (treh), fête (fet)
• à / ù → same sound, different meaning: a = has, à = to/at; ou = or, où = where
• ç (cédille) → s before a, o, u: ça (sa), garçon (gar-SOHN), français (frahn-SAY)
• ë / ï (tréma) → say both vowels separately: Noël (no-EL), naïf (na-EEF)

Spelling → sound, at a glance

WRITTEN      SOUNDS LIKE     EXAMPLE
ou        →  oo              vous   (voo)
u         →  ü (ee + round)  tu     (tü)
oi        →  wa              moi    (mwa), trois (trwa)
au / eau  →  oh              gâteau (ga-TOH)
ai        →  eh              lait   (leh)
ch        →  sh              chocolat (sho-ko-LA)
gn        →  ny              champagne (shahm-PANY)
qu        →  k               qui    (kee)
an / en   →  ahn (nasal)     France (frahns), enfant
on        →  ohn (nasal)     bonjour (bohn-ZHOOR)
in / un   →  an  (nasal)     vin (van), un (an)
h         →  (silent)        hôtel  (oh-TEL)

Twelve rows cover most words you'll meet at A1.

Two sounds Indians already own

Nasal vowels. French bon (bohn) is said through the nose with no real n at the end — exactly like the chandrabindu in Hindi हाँ or माँ. Indian learners usually get this faster than Americans.

The French r. It is made at the back of the throat, not with the tongue tip. The closest sound you already know is the ग़ (ghain) in Urdu-Hindi ग़ज़ल or ग़लत. Say ghalat, keep that throat sound, and put it in merci (mair-SEE) and Paris.

The one new sound is u: say ee, freeze your tongue, then round your lips as if saying oo. That is tu (tü). Tout (too) is a different word.

Spelling your name at Alliance Française, Pune

Raj is enrolling for A1 classes. The receptionist is French.

Réceptionniste : Bonjour ! Votre nom, s'il vous plaît ?

Raj : Raj Sharma.

Réceptionniste : Ça s'écrit comment ? (How is it spelled?)

Raj : R-A-J. (air – ah – zhee)

Réceptionniste : Zhee... J, d'accord. Et Sharma ?

Raj : S-H-A-R-M-A. (ess – ahsh – ah – air – em – ah)

Réceptionniste : Parfait, merci !

If Raj had said jay for J, she would have written G. Practise spelling your own name and your city — this happens at every visa office, hotel desk and phone call.

The end is silent — unless it's CaReFuL.

Final c, r, f, l are usually said (avec, bonjour, neuf, il). Everything else at the end: assume silent.

Spelling: G = zhay, J = zhee — think G for gem-zhay, J for Gee-zhee: they swapped hats.

Classic mistakes Indian learners make

• Saying the final letters — Pa-RISS, ver-SAILS. It's pa-REE, vair-SIGH.
• Tapping the r with the tongue tip like Hindi र. Move it to the throat: ग़.
• u = oo — tu and tout become the same word. Round your lips on an ee.
• Pronouncing h — hôtel is oh-TEL. French h is always silent.
• Ignoring accents when typing — ou (or) vs où (where), a (has) vs à (to) are different words.
• Saying the n in nasals — bon is not bonn. Stop before the tongue touches.
• Stressing the first syllable as in English — French is flat with a slight lift on the last syllable: banane is ba-NAN, not BA-nan.

Words to know

In two minutes

• French writes more letters than it pronounces: most final consonants and final -e are silent (Paris = pa-REE).
• Remember CaReFuL: final c, r, f, l are usually pronounced (avec, bonjour, neuf, il) — except -er at the end of verbs (parler = par-LAY).
• Accents change sound or meaning: é = ay, è/ê = eh, ç = s, and à / où separate words from a / ou.
• Key letter pairs: ou = oo, oi = wa, au/eau = oh, ai = eh, gn = ny, ch = sh.
• Nasal vowels (an, en, on, in, un) are said through the nose — Hindi speakers already make them in माँ and हाँ.
• The French r comes from the throat, close to the ग़ in ग़ज़ल; the French u is ee with rounded lips.
• Liaison links a silent consonant to a following vowel (vous avez = voo-za-VAY); elision drops a vowel (le + ami = l'ami).

Test yourself

There are 10 questions, 3 puzzles and 5 recall cards for this lesson in the app — the recall cards come back on later days, just before you would forget.