Mastering the French alphabet, similar to the English one, is a practical step towards learning to read and speak French. This familiarity can boost your confidence in learning the language.
So, how exactly does the French alphabet differ, what do they call the letters, and how do you pronounce them?
How Many Letters Are There in the French Alphabet?
While the French alphabet shares the same 26 letters as English, it has unique characteristics. Let's explore them.
"w" and "k" are not native to French, so they're typically found only in a few loanwords. For instance, the word "week-end" is a common loanword in French, and it retains the "w" sound. Similarly, the word "karaoke" is another example of a loanword that uses the "k" sound. They still exist and are used; however, native French speakers are undoubtedly familiar with them and count them as part of the alphabet, even when singing the song.
Though they aren't counted as separate letters in the alphabet, you may also see letters like æ and œ. This is more for typographical reasons than linguistic reasons, so they're actually simply "a" + "e" and "o" + "e".
You'll very rarely see æ, but some prevalent examples of œ include the basic French words like heart ("cœur"), "egg" ("œuf"), and "sister" ("sœur").
However, you'll likely see these presented with separate letters in more casual uses of French (such as text messages, emails, etc.).
Additionally, French uses diacritic marks, commonly known as accents, for a number of reasons. We don't count these as different letters but rather as modifications of the original letter.
So, how many letters are there in the French alphabet?
Just 26.
How Do You Pronounce the Letters of the French Alphabet?
There are two ways to answer this question. Firstly, how you pronounce the "names" of the letters in French.
For example, if you have to spell out your name for a hotel reservation, you'd use the names of the letters rather than how they're pronounced in a word.
Secondly, there are the myriad of ways that French letters can be pronounced when used in words. We'll deal with that later in this article.
For now, let's see how you say the names of each letter of the French alphabet. Here's a useful video with the letter names and their correct pronunciation.
Here's a useful video with the letter names.
Here, they are written out. Remember that pronunciations are approximate and anglicised.
| Letter | Pronunciation |
|---|---|
| A | ah |
| B | bay |
| C | say |
| D | day |
| E | uh |
| F | eff |
| G | zheh |
| H | ahsh |
| I | ee |
| j | zhee |
| k | ka |
| l | ell |
| m | em |
| n | en |
| o | oh |
| p | pay |
| q | koo |
| r | air |
| s | ess |
| t | tay |
| u | ooh |
| v | vay |
| w | doob-leh-vay |
| x | eeks |
| y | ee-grek |
| z | zed |
English speakers may need clarification on a few letters in the French alphabet. For one, the letter e in French is pronounced "uh" while the letter I is pronounced "ee", which sounds much more like the English name for the letter e.
Similarly, g and j, pronounced "zheh" and "zhee", respectively, sound like they've been swapped around in French. It is easy to confuse the two when first learning and speaking French.
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Pronouncing French Words
As we delve into the French alphabet, it's important to acknowledge that pronunciation can be challenging. However, with practice and understanding, you can overcome these challenges.
The French alphabet comprises consonants, vowels, and letters with accents, which may or may not change the pronunciation.
We didn't say that it would be easy, but a good accent will go along way to more enjoyable conversations with French speakers. They'll also be more patient with you in their language if you learn how to be polite in French.
Consonants in French
The same is true of the English language, and it's the reason the c in “face” isn't pronounced in the same way as the c in “cat”.
In French, the consonants can make 19 possible phonemes (or sounds). A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a language that can change the meaning of a word. Just because there are 20 consonants and 19 sounds, this doesn't mean each letter can only be pronounced in one way!
To vastly oversimplify, many of the consonants are pronounced similarly to most variants of the English language. These include letters like b, c, d, f, k, m, n, p, s, t, v, and z.
For absolute beginners, pronouncing these letters as you do in English would be passable. However, there are still many examples where these letters will sound different from what they do in English.
The letter g, for example, can be pronounced somewhat like how we say it in the word 'goat' or how we say it in the word 'stranger', depending on where it is.
For instance, the word 'garçon' pronounces the 'g' as in 'goat ', while the word 'genre' pronounces it as in 'stranger '.
In most instances, the letter J will sound a bit like the middle of the word "vision."
Once you've grasped basic pronunciation, you can move on to simple vocabulary like colours in French.
Vowels in French
If you thought the consonants in French were tricky, get ready for the vowels. Despite just six vowels in French (the letter "y" is also a vowel), the number of sounds that these can make totals an impressive 19, a little over three per vowel!
Let's start with the default sounds the vowels make independently since the various sounds they can make change depending on the letters preceding or following them.
A
The sound the letter a makes is simply an “a” sound. In most variants of English, this would sound like the a in the word “hat”.
E
While the name in French sounds like “uh”, the letter e can sound a bit like the a at the end of the name 'Tina' in most English dialects. However, it can also sound like the e in "bed" or the combination of a and y in words like "may". For example, the word 'merci' pronounces the "e" as in "bed", while the word "été" pronounces it as the combination of a and y in "may".
It should be noted that these examples apply to most variants of English, and the "bed" and "may" examples don't apply to what linguists refer to as "Broad Australian."
I
The letter I will mostly sound like a double-e in most English variants. Words like “see” and “fee”, for example.
O
The French letter o will sound like a longer "oh" sound in words such as "go", "boat", etc. Again, this can vary wildly depending on your English accent, too!
U
Nothing like the French letter u really exists in most English dialects, and the word "few" is the closest we can get. Until they master the French sound, though, most English speakers will approximate this vowel with an "oo" sound in words like "do," "too," etc.
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Nasal Vowels
Vowels in French can change pronunciation if followed by certain letters, too. This is particularly true for nasal vowels, produced by lowering the soft palate, allowing air to escape through the nose. These vowels include 'an', 'en ', 'in ', 'on ', and 'un '.
English doesn't have sounds like French nasal vowels, so you must listen to and practise some examples.
Typically, the vowels become nasal when a vowel is followed by a letter n or m. However, there are plenty of other examples beyond this.
Diphthongs and Tripthongs
Much like in English, combinations of vowels change pronunciation. This is why things like ô, as in "Oh!", can be pronounced the same as "eau" ("water") and as "au", the preposition that typically means "at," "towards," or "to."
If you have any doubts, it can help to learn how to ask questions in French.
Accents in French
In French, accents can change how a letter is pronounced. There are 5 possible accent marks, diacritics, or simply accents in French.
The Acute Accent
The acute accent' (rising from left to right) can be applied only to the letter e to make é. This letter is typically pronounced "eh" or like in "pay".
The Grave Accent
The grave accent `(descending from left to right) can be added to the letters a, e, and u to make à, è, and ù.
The pronunciation doesn't change with à and ù, but the è can sound more like “bet”.
The Cedilla
The cedilla is the "hook" that hangs from the bottom of a c to make it ç. In French, like the name of the language, "français" will make a c softer, changing the pronunciation from the c in "cat" to the c in "face".
If it helps you remember, a ç looks slightly like a badly drawn s, or somebody is correcting a c that was supposed to be an s.
The Circumflex Accent
The circumflex accent ^ can be added to a, e, i, o, and u. This makes â, ê, î, ô, and û. Note that it replaces the point on i.
This doesn't change the pronunciation and is standard in French words that used to have an s after the vowel in older spellings. You can also see some of the etymology of words through the names for the days and the months in French.
The Trema
The trema ¨ is probably famous for appearing in the German language. Still, it also appears in French with the letters e, i, and u. This makes ë, ï, and ü, with the same rules for replacing the point over the i.
This appears typically on the second vowel in a diphthong (two vowels) and indicates that the two vowels are pronounced as if they were individual vowels and not as the diphthong is usually pronounced without it.
Don't forget you can also improve your French simply by learning French idiomatic expressions.
The Full French Alphabet with Audio
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
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