Pronunciation: “o”, “au” and “eau”

We are looking at the sound “oh”, as in, “Oh, I see!”

All three of the letter combinations today make the same “oh” sound in French: “o”, “au”, and
“eau”. Think of words like “go”, “throw”, etc. in English.
Some of the words below are going to include some of our previous sound combinations, so be
sure to notice those as well. The more you notice, the better your French pronunciation will
get! Our previous sounds were “gn” (makes a “ni” or “nyuh” sound - like onion/oignon) and “ou”
(makes an “oo” sound like soup/soupe). I will highlight these sounds in grey.
If a letter has an over it, it’s because it’s silent (often the last consonant in a French word is
silent, like the “p” in “loup” or the “s” in “nous”.)
Practice these words, and when you’re ready, record yourself reading them on Edsby!

“o” “au” “eau”

une rose un un
(a rose) dauphin manteau
(a (a coat)
dolphin)
un stylo jaune un
(a pen) (yellow) cadeau (a
gift)
zéro gauche beaucoup
(zero) (left) (a lot)

un piano pauvre un bateau

(a piano) (poor) (a boat)

ton dos sauter un oiseau

(your (to jump) (a bird)
back)