The French Alphabet – Pronunciation

Let's try the sounds together-- remembering that the French do not prolong their vowels. The vowel
sounds are kept short!
Letter Pronunciation Examples Letter Pronunciation Examples
A /ah/ - the sound in aller (ah-lay) O /oh/ - similar to un ordinateur (uh-
'spa' means 'to go' English nohr-dee-nah-tuhr)
means 'a
computer'
B /beh/ - similar to une batte P /peh/ - said like payer (pay-ay)
'bay' (eeoon baht) the 'pu' in 'put' means 'to pay'
means 'a bat'
C /seh/ - similar to un couteau (uh Q /keoo/ - said like qui (kee) means
'say' (C or S sound) koo-toh) means KEE with 'who'
'a knife rounded lips
D /deh/ - similar to dormir (dohr- R /ehr/ - guttural un renard (uh rruh-
'day' meer) means 'to throat 'r', like nahrr) means 'a
sleep' gargling fox'
E /uh/ - the sound in les cheveux (lay S /ess/ - usually un poisson (uh
'wool' shuh-vuh) one 's' sounds pwah--ssohn)
means 'hair' like 'z' means 'a fish'
double 's' sounds du poison (deeoo
like 's' pwah-zohn) means
'some poison'
F /eff/ - similar to fort (fohr) T /teh/ - said like une tarte (eeoon
English means 'strong' 'tay' tarr-tuh) means 'a
pie'
G /zheh/ - similar to le gaz (luh U /eew/ - said like une ruse (eeoon
the g in 'massage' gahz) means EE with rounded reeooz) means 'a
'gas' lips joke or trick'
H /ah-sh/ - said like -l'huile (lweel) V /veh/ - said like une voiture (eeoon
'osh' in gosh, means oil, and 'vay' vwah-teeoor)
usually silent in the 'h' is silent means 'a car'
French but there are -le haricot (luh
a few words with an ah-ree-koh)
aspirated 'h' means 'the
bean'
I /ee/ - the sound in finir (fee-neer) W /doobluh veh/ - un wagon-lit (uh
geek means 'to finish' sounds similar to vahgohn lee) or
double vay (uh wah-gohn-lee)
(rarely used in means a train car
French) for sleeping
J /zhee/ - similar to jouer (zhoo-ay) X /eeks/ - similar to une exercise
jhee means 'to play' English (eeoon ehks-ehr-
see-ss) means 'an
exercise'
K /kah/ sounds like un kangourou Y /ee grehk/ - un yaourt (uh yah-
English (rarely used (uh kahn-goo- sounds like EE oo-rt) means 'a
in French) roo) means then gr-ek yogurt'
kangaroo
L /ell/ - sounds like un livre (uh lee- Z /zehd/ - sounds un zèbre (uh zeh-
English vruh) means 'a like zed bruh) means 'a
book' zebra'