French Pronunciation Chart217

French is a beautiful and expressive language, but its pronunciation can be a bit tricky for native English speakers. This chart will help you get started with the basics of French pronunciation. The chart is divided into two sections: vowels and consonants. Each section is further divided into subcategories, such as short vowels, long vowels, and nasal vowels. For each sound, the chart provides the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbol, the French word in which the sound is found, and an example of how the sound is pronounced.

Vowels

Short Vowels

IPA
French Word
Pronunciation




ɑ
chat
cat


ɛ
père
father


i
fini
finished


ɔ
porte
door


œ
œuf
egg


y
tu
you

Long Vowels

IPA
French Word
Pronunciation




a
pâte
dough


ɛ
mère
mother


i
île
island


ɔ
chose
thing


ø
peu
little


y
lu
read

Nasal Vowels

IPA
French Word
Pronunciation




ɑ̃
chant
song


ɛ̃
brin
strand


ẽ
brin
strand


ɔ̃
bon
good


œ̃
un
one


ỹ
brun
brown

Consonants

Voiceless Consonants

IPA
French Word
Pronunciation




p
père
father


t
tarte
tart


k
chat
cat


f
femme
woman


s
soleil
sun


ʃ
chat
cat

Voiced Consonants

IPA
French Word
Pronunciation




b
bon
good


d
du
of


g
gare
station


v
vais
go


z
zoo
zoo


ʒ
je
I

Nasal Consonants

IPA
French Word
Pronunciation




m
mère
mother


n
nez
nose


ɲ
gnon
dumpling

Semi-Vowels

IPA
French Word
Pronunciation




j
yeux
eyes


w
oui
yes

2025-01-10

---

Previous：Self-Study versus Language Classes: A Comprehensive Guide to Learning French and Korean

Next：YesFrench: The Immersive French Self-Study App