Combination of letters

Combination of letters in French words. How do French words sound? How are French words pronounced? It’s really easy to learn with Anne's list. Copy her French accent.

Semaine 3

Les mots en français ne sont pas toujours intuitifs.

French words don’t always look the way they sound. They may combine letters to make a new sound. Let’s go over the most common ones here.

For instance,

EAU is pronounced O, such as in

EAU –> water

BEAU –> beautiful

CU is pronounced KU, such as in

CUBE –> cube

but ÇU is pronounced SU, such as in

REÇU –> received

My take on how to pronounce French words is to look at the chart below and then, one by one, to memorize each word as they come to you.

looks like

sounds like

French example

English translation

ai

short open eight

ai

have

an, en

bump

banc

bench

au, eau

short rounded ‘oh’

haut

high

ca

ka

cas

case

ça

sa

ça

it (contraction of ‘cela’)

ch

sh

chat

cat

ci

see

ici

here

co

ko

comment

how

çon

song

garçon

boy

cu

ku

cube

cub

Continue in the companion worksheet

Related: English words in French . French words in English .

Become a member

Did you like it? Please share and link.

AUDIO

How to listen onto your mp3 device, phone…

French words in English

French words in English. It’s really easy to learn French. Learn this list, copy Anne’s accent.

Semaine 2

French is easy, you already use all these words in English.

French words in English

* à la mode

* à propos

* adieu

* adroit

* allez allez allez

* amuse-bouche (amuse-gueule)

* apéritif

* appliqué

* armoire

* attaché

* au pair

* auteur

* baguette

* beaucoup

* béret

* bon appétit

* bon vivant

* bon voyage

* bonjour

* bourgeois

* brunette

* c’est la vie (Rose c’est la vie)

* café au lait

* chaise longue (chase lounge)

* chez

* chic

* chiffon

* cliché

* concierge

* corsage

* crème brûlée

* crème fraîche

Premium members continue in the companion worksheet

or here

Related: English words in French . Gender of Nouns 2 .

Did you like it? Please share and link

AUDIO

How to listen onto your mp3 device, phone…

English words in French

English words in French. It's really easy to learn French. Start with this list, first lesson of Anne's weekly podcast.

Semaine 1

Who said French is hard to learn? There are tons of English words used in the French language – with a French accent, of course. Here is a list of some that I hear often in French. Note that most of them are masculine. My favorite one is un pin’s. What’s your favorite? Do you know another one? Feel free to Leave a Reply below.

* m .... babyfoot .... foosball, table football

* m .... barman .... barman

* m .... basket .... basket-ball

* f .... basket .... tennis shoe

* m .... best-seller .... best-seller book

* m .... bifteck .... steak (beef)

* m .... blazer .... blazer, suit jacket

* m .... blogue .... blog

* m .... bluff .... bluff

* m .... boss .... boss

* m .... bouledogue .... bulldog

* m .... boycott .... boycott

* ø .... boycotter .... to boycott

* m .... brainstorming .... brainstorming session

* m .... business .... business

* m .... businessman .... businessman

* m .... caddy .... store cart

* m .... camping .... camp site

* m .... casting .... casting

* m .... challenge .... challenge

* m .... cocktail .... cocktail party

* m .... cowboy .... cowboy

* m .... crash .... crash

* ø .... customiser .... to customize

* m .... dancing .... club (dancing)

* m .... dressing .... dressing-room

* m .... drive-in .... drive-in establishment

* m .... duffel-coat .... duffle coat

* m/f .... fair-play .... fair play

* m .... ferry .... ferry-boat

Continue in the companion worksheet

Related: French words in English . Gender of Nouns 2 .

Did you like it? Please share and link

AUDIO

How to listen onto your mp3 device, phone…