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Pronunciation

PRONUNCIATION

There is nothing worse than knowing the right word but once you pronounce it, people don’t understand you !! So let’s have a look at a few pronunciation rules.

Once you know how to pronounce the word, your brain identifies it very rapidly when it hears it, so by pronouncing well, you make yourself understood and you understand others much better.

The most common problems when pronouncing are the following :

-tion :

The English speakers tend to pronounce this ending /shion/ when the French speakers say /ssssion/. There is no doubt when hearing a person pronouncing the word « communication » /comunicashion/ that this person is from an English speaking country. Most of the time, the French will understand you and think you have a cute accent, but sometimes people don’t make too many efforts in understanding foreigners, so they may not get what you’re saying, so why not trying the French way ?

-er = -é = et = ez :

All these letters are pronounced the same way.

Ex : /jouer = joué = jouez = jouet/

Jouer (infinitive verb)

J’ai joué (verbe au passé composé)

Vous jouez (verbe au présent)

Un jouet (a toy)

Consonants :

If a word ends with a consonant, this very consonant drops silent.

Ex : Petit = /peti/

Grand = /gran/

Un pot de fleurs = /po/

OF COURSE a rule has exceptions (especially in French) so there are words for which we do pronounce the last consonant.

Ex : En fait /t/

Sauf /f/

Donc /k/

Fils /sss/

Sac /k/

Mec /k/

Truc /k/

Vowels :

When a word ends with a vowel, this vowel, makes you pronounce the last consonant of the word.

Ex : Petite = /t/

Grande = /d/

Linking the words together :

When a word ends with a consonant we said it drops silent BUT NOT if the next word starts with a vowel.

Ex :

Petit à petit = /petitapeti/

De temps en temps= /detanzantan/

Trois enfants = / trwazenfen/

Vous avez = / voozavé/

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