The French alphabet
How each of the 26 letters is said, what the accents do, how to spell a name out loud, and the nine sound pairs most often mixed up in speech. Every item has audio.
The 26 letters
Tap a letter to hear its name. The line underneath is how letters are spelled out on the phone — “B comme Berthe” — useful when giving your name or email.
/a/
/be/
/se/
/de/
/ə/
/ɛf/
/ʒe/
/aʃ/
/i/
/ʒi/
/ka/
/ɛl/
/ɛm/
/ɛn/
/o/
/pe/
/ky/
/ɛʁ/
/ɛs/
/te/
/y/
/ve/
/dubləve/
/iks/
/iɡʁɛk/
/zɛd/
Letters people often get wrong
- E
- The name is /ə/ — short, lips slightly rounded. Not the English “ee”, and not é.
- G
- G is /ʒe/ and J is /ʒi/ — the reverse of what English suggests. The most common slip when spelling an email address.
- H
- Never pronounced inside a word: hôtel and homme start on the vowel.
- J
- /ʒi/, not “jay”. See G above.
- Q
- The name is /ky/, with the same vowel as U — but qu inside a word is just /k/ (qui, quatre).
- R
- Uvular: keep the tongue tip down behind the lower teeth and let the friction happen at the back of the throat. No curl, no trill.
- U
- /y/: round your lips for “oo”, keep your tongue where it is for “ee”.
- W
- “Double V”, not “double U”.
- Y
- “Greek i” — two words.
Accents
Some change the sound; some only tell words apart. To type them, see French typing practice.
- éaccent aigu
Changes the sound: é is a closed /e/, lips spread.
- èaccent grave
Changes the sound: è is an open /ɛ/, jaw lower than for é.
- êaccent circonflexe
On e it sounds like è: /ɛ/.
- à ùaccent grave
No change in sound — it only tells words apart: a (has) / à (to), ou (or) / où (where).
- â î ô ûaccent circonflexe
Mostly no change; ô is a closed /o/.
- ë ï ütréma
The vowel is said separately from the one before: No-ël, not one sound.
- çcédille
c before a, o or u is normally /k/; the cedilla makes it /s/.
- œe dans l'o
o and e joined: one vowel, /œ/ or /ø/ — not o followed by e.
Nine sound pairs to tell apart
Listen to both words, then tap the mic to read the pair and get a pronunciation score. For how to make each sound, see French pronunciation rules.
u / ou/y/ · /u/
Mix them up and you say a different word: tu / tout, vu / vous.
le / les/ə/ · /e/
The plural -s is silent, so in speech singular and plural often differ by this vowel alone: le livre / les livres. Same with je fais / j'ai fait — present or past comes down to this one sound.
é / è/e/ · /ɛ/
parlé (passé composé) and parlait (imparfait) differ only by this vowel — if it doesn't come through, the tense of your story doesn't either.
an / on/ɑ̃/ · /ɔ̃/
vent / vont, sans / son: the examiner is left guessing from context.
in / an/ɛ̃/ · /ɑ̃/
vin (wine) / vent (wind), plein (full) / plan (plan).
bon / bonne/ɔ̃/ · /ɔn/
This is how gender is heard: un / une, américain / américaine. Say them the same and your agreement disappears.
s / z/s/ · /z/
ils sont (they are) / ils ont (they have) differ by this sound alone — être versus avoir.
petit / petite/pəti/ · /pətit/
The last pair is deliberately identical in sound: il parle / ils parlent. Don't pronounce the -ent.
r / l/ʁ/ · /l/
riz (rice) / lit (bed), roue (wheel) / loup (wolf).
Spelling a name aloud
On the phone, at a service counter or when checking in for an exam, you will often have to spell your name or email letter by letter. These are the lines you will need.
Vous pouvez épeler, s'il vous plaît ?
Could you spell that, please?
Ça s'écrit comment ?
How is that spelled?
Ça s'écrit avec deux L.
It's spelled with two Ls.
E accent aigu
é
E accent grave
è
C cédille
ç
Avec un trait d'union.
With a hyphen.
Avec une apostrophe.
With an apostrophe.