7 pronunciation mistakes in French

[jrineakter]

Do you want to express yourself with impeccable French pronunciation ? Would you like to never have to repeat yourself and speak the language of Molière with fluidity and ease? Good pronunciation is essential to make yourself understood by others. But sometimes, the best way to improve your oral expression is to become aware of your mistakes. Discover without further delay 7 pronunciation mistakes in French that learners often make!

PS: Find a quiz at the end of the article to see if you have learned the lesson.

1. Nasal vowels: a common mistake
The most common nasal vowels are ON, UN, and EN. These vowels may not exist in your native language, which is why it is difficult for you to pronounce them.

The pronunciation error in French is then to pronounce the sound N. Instead of saying ON, you will say ONNE. Same thing for UN which becomes ANE and EN which becomes ENE. For example, we do not say "bonnejour", but rather "bonjour". We should not hear the letter N.

But how do you pronounce these nasal vowels correctly? Here's my tip: pronounce the vowels "o", "a" and "è" by pinching your nose tightly. So, does it work? Did you get there? In fact, to pronounce nasal vowels, you have to pass air through both your mouth and your nose.

I'll let you practice by watching this video:


2. The pronunciation of the consonant H
It's not easy to know how to pronounce the letter H in French! But one thing is for sure, you shouldn't aspirate it like in English or German. English speakers and Germans often make this pronunciation mistake in French. In reality, the consonant H is not pronounced. It's as if it didn't exist when spoken.

The problem is that in French there is a laos whatsapp number data difference between the silent H and the aspirated H. The silent H allows the liaison between words. For example, the word "homme" begins with a silent H. We therefore pronounce "des hommes" by making the liaison with [z]: des_hommes.

Conversely, the aspirated H prevents both elision and liaison. We say "le héros" and not "l'héros". In the same way, we do not say "des_héros" but "des héros" without making the liaison.

If you make a mistake with the liaisons, it's not too serious. But at least remember that the consonant H is never pronounced.

3. Silent final consonants
In French, there are many letters that are written but not pronounced. They are called mute or silent letters . These are very often consonants at the end of a word. They should not be pronounced!

For example, in the word "chat", the "t" is a silent consonant: it is written, but we do not hear it spoken.

As a general rule, final consonants are not pronounced, except for the letters L, C, F and R. Little mnemonic tip: remember the word “LuCiFeR”.


A common pronunciation error in French is forgetting the liaison.

What is liaison? It is the act of linking two words when the first ends with a consonant and the second begins with a vowel. The purpose of this pronunciation rule is to make communication more fluid.

For example, you have the words "un ami". The first ends with a consonant and the second begins with a vowel. We then make the liaison: "un ami" is pronounced "un_ami". We hear the sound "n".

The problem is that there are several cases of liaison. It is sometimes mandatory, sometimes optional and sometimes forbidden. To learn more about the rules of liaison, I let you watch this video. Johan explains in detail when you have to make the liaison.