Vowel Sounds I ([e], [É], [É])
The sound [e] is much like the vowel sound of day. The letter é
is always pronounced [e].
| |
été
armée |
summer
army |
arrivé
légal |
legal |
|
|
The letter combinations er, es, and ez at the end a word are pronounced
[e].
|
| -er |
répéter
téléphoner |
to repeat
to telephone |
| -ez |
nez
chez |
nose |
| -es |
les
ses |
|
|
|
|
In addition, the letter combination ai at the end of a verb is pronounced
[e].
| |
| -ai |
j'ai
je finirai
je donnai |
I have
I will finish
I gave |
|
|
|
English speakers tend to pronounce [e] with a diphthong, a slightly wavery sound
caused by movement in the tongue. In French, the [e] sound is tense --
pronounced with little tongue movement. Observe...
| |
| English [e] |
French [e] |
bay
say
okay |
|
bé
ses
oké |
|
|
|
|
The [É] sound is identical to the vowel
sound of pet. The letters ê, è and e are normally pronounced
[É].
| |
bête
belle
mène
|
beast
beautiful
bring
|
mère
telle |
mother
such |
|
|
|
In most of France, ai at the end of a word is pronounced [É]
(except with verbs as we already mentioned). In addition the ending ai
plus any consonant, et endings, and the es ending when an accent
appears over the e are pronounced [É]
as well. When [É] comes at the end of
a sentence, it sounds much more like [e] and to the untrained ear might sound
exactly like [e]. To most French speakers, the difference is real and important.
|
le palais
le lait
le fait
|
palace
milk
fact |
près
dès
la forêt |
forest |
|
|
|
On the left are words with endings that are pronounced [É].
On the right the endings are pronounced [e].
| |
dès
et
épais
fait
la claie
mais
prés
tais
je parlerais
|
|
des
il est
l'épée
fée
la clé
mes
pré
tes
je parlerai |
|
|
|
|
Overlap: [e] or [É]
The letter combinations ai and ei are pronounced at times as [e]
and at times as [É]. If ai or ei
are found within a syllable that ends in a vowel sound (an open syllable)
the pronunciation is [e]...
| |
laid
enseigner
peiner
j'ai
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
If they are found within a syllable that ends in a consonant
sound (a closed syllable) the pronunciation is [É]...
| |
laide
enseigne
peine
j'aide
|
|
claire
aile
faible |
|
|
|
|
The [É] sound is similar to the u sound of knuckle.
The letter e of these short one syllable words is pronounced as [É].
| |
je
me
te
le
se |
ce
que
de
ne |
|
|
|
The [É] sound also occurs in the first syllable
of Monsieur and the two syllable forms of the verb faire.
