"A course designed for my specific needs"Accents, silent letters, liaisons and élision
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Accents
Accents are signs used over certain vowels (a, i, o, u) to distinguish between two words :
- a (has) - à (at, to, in).
- ou (or) - où (where).
or over the 'e' to change the sound of that letter (Hélène). They do not represent a tonic accent like they do in Spanish. That letter is not pronounced any stronger, either the sound changes, or it's only a written mark that doens't have any effect on the way that letter is pronounced.
There are 3 accents "è" accent grave, "é" accent aigu, "ê" accent circomflexe.
We also have a "tréma", 2 dots over a vowel means that letter has to be pronounced separately, like "maïs" [mA-Is] (corn) and not like "mais" [mÈ] (but).
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Silent Letters
Sometimes in French, and specially at the end of a word, certain letters are not pronounced (but see the section on liaison below). Remember that spoken French words often end on a vowel sound.
The common silent letters are:
- the letter e, inside or at the end of a word (amie, épée, mademoiselle).
- the letter s at the end of a word (les maisons).
- all the consonants in general, when they are at the end of a word. Remember that consonants
are always pronounced when they are followed by a vowel. (étudiant / étudiante).
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Liaison (word linking)
In order to avoid a clash of vowels between two words, the last silent letter of the first word may sometimes be pronounced. The normal sound value will be preserved except for :
- s and x which assume the sound Z
les enfants [lÉ] [zANfAN].
six amis [sI] [zAmI]. - d which assumes the sound T
grand ami [grAN] [tAmI].
Note that the consonant is then pronounced as if it were the first sound of the following word. The two words don't have to be pronounced together, you could actually breathe between them. This liaison sound is very, very strong. Many children, when first speaking, will say the word with the usual liaison sound. For exemple, the word "homme" becomes "zom", because children hear "les hommes - [lé zom]", or "oeuf" becomes "neuf" because of "un oeuf - [in neuf]". Yes, French children have to figure out this liaison thing when they learn to write...
There are too many rules and exceptions to tell you when we do a liaison or not. But in doubt, do it! Liaisons are everywhere. The basic rules are ;
- never liaison after a NOUN like "enfants", or a proper name like Thomas...
- never liaison after "et" (and) - except with numbers.
- always liaison between a pronoun and a verb (that starts with a vowel or an h of course). like nous avons [nOU zAvON], or ils habitent [Il zAbIt]
- usually liaison after pas.
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Elision
In order to avoid a clash of vowels between two words, the final e of a few short words like je, de, ne and que is dropped when the next word begins with a vowel sound, that is, with a mute H or a vowel.
Elision is shown by an apostrophe. This is silent, you don't replace the letter by an English H sound. The consonant becomes the first sound of the following word. They are pronounced together.
J'habite [jAbIt]
d'Albert [dAlbÉr]
n'ose [nOz]
qu'elle [kÈl] …