I can read a French word without pronouncing its silent letters, lengthen the last syllable of the group instead of stressing one inside the word, and write l'école and l'ami with an apostrophe where the vowel dropped out.
What is silent
Half the final letters are silent
Final consonants are usually silent, even though English pronounces them. Silent: -s, -t, -d, -x, -z, -p — le chat [ʃa], la souris [suʁi], la voix [vwa], le loup [lu], le tapis [tapi].
Four letters are pronounced at the end: c, r, f, l — le sac [sak], la fleur [flœʁ], le chef [ʃɛf], l'hôtel [lotɛl]. One important exception: in the infinitive of an -er verb, the r is silent, so écouter is [ekute].
The letter h is never pronounced, not even as a breath: l'hôtel, l'homme.
A final -e is silent too, so the word ends in its consonant: la table [tabl], la porte [pɔʁt], le livre [livʁ]. Inside a word this e often drops out in fast speech: la fenêtre — [fənɛtʁ] or [fnɛtʁ], le cheval — [ʃəval].
Common mistakes:
• NOT [ʃat] — in le chat the final t is silent.
• NOT [ekutɛʁ] — in écouter the r is silent.
• NOT [lotɛ] — in l'hôtel the final l is pronounced.
• NOT [hotɛl] — the h is silent: [lotɛl].
• NOT [ˈteɪbəl] — la table ends in the consonants [bl], with a French [a].
The end of a word: what's heard and what's silent
One rule, one exception: -er verbs.
| Final letter | Pronounced? | Example | NOT like this |
|---|---|---|---|
| -s, -t, -d, -x, -z, -p | no | la souris · le chat · le loup | not [ʃat] |
| c, r, f, l | yes | le sac · la fleur · le chef · l'hôtel | not [lotɛ] |
| verb ending -er | the r is silent | écouter | not [ekutɛʁ] |
| -e | no | la table · le livre | not [ˈteɪbəl] |
| h at the start | no | l'homme | not [hɔm] |
Lesson notes
Half the final letters are silent
Final consonants are usually silent, even though English pronounces them. Silent: -s, -t, -d, -x, -z, -p — le chat [ʃa], la souris [suʁi], la voix [vwa], le loup [lu], le tapis [tapi].
Four letters are pronounced at the end: c, r, f, l — le sac [sak], la fleur [flœʁ], le chef [ʃɛf], l'hôtel [lotɛl]. One important exception: in the infinitive of an -er verb, the r is silent, so écouter is [ekute].
The letter h is never pronounced, not even as a breath: l'hôtel, l'homme.
A final -e is silent too, so the word ends in its consonant: la table [tabl], la porte [pɔʁt], le livre [livʁ]. Inside a word this e often drops out in fast speech: la fenêtre — [fənɛtʁ] or [fnɛtʁ], le cheval — [ʃəval].
Common mistakes:
• NOT [ʃat] — in le chat the final t is silent.
• NOT [ekutɛʁ] — in écouter the r is silent.
• NOT [lotɛ] — in l'hôtel the final l is pronounced.
• NOT [hotɛl] — the h is silent: [lotɛl].
• NOT [ˈteɪbəl] — la table ends in the consonants [bl], with a French [a].
The voice moves to the end of the group
Stress falls on the last syllable of the rhythmic group (words said in one breath): inside a French word no syllable is stressed. The voice moves evenly to the end and lingers there — l'alphabet [alfabɛ], la fenêtre [fənɛtʁ]. English stresses one syllable per word (ALphabet); in French that breaks the group.
Élision. Before a vowel or a silent h, the short words je, le, la, de, que, ne, se, ce, me, te lose their vowel and take an apostrophe: l'école, l'ami, l'homme. In writing the apostrophe is required, with no space next to it. You'll meet these words in modules 1–3; for now, learn the rule.
Enchaînement. A pronounced consonant simply runs into the next word: il a (he has) sounds [i-la], elle est (she is) — [ɛ-lɛ].
Liaison. A silent final consonant comes alive before a vowel, but only in fixed pairs. In les amis (friends) [le-za-mi], vous êtes (you are) [vu-zɛt], nous avons (we have) [nu-za-vɔ̃], and deux heures (two o'clock) [dø-zœʁ], the s or x is heard as [z]; in un ami (a friend) [ɛ̃-na-mi], the n is heard. There's no rule “always before a vowel”: don't invent liaison.
Common mistakes:
• NOT [ˈalfabɛ] with the stress at the start — the voice moves to the end.
• NOT “le homme” — élision happens before a silent h too: l'homme.
• NOT “l école” with a space — no space next to the apostrophe.
• NOT [le ami] as two words — les amis has a [z].