{"id":117832,"date":"2023-06-15T12:33:22","date_gmt":"2023-06-15T16:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/type-french-accent-marks\/"},"modified":"2025-02-23T23:51:33","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T04:51:33","slug":"type-french-accent-marks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/type-french-accent-marks\/","title":{"rendered":"French Accent Marks: What They Are and How to Type Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bonjour, je veux apprendre le fran\u00e7ais.<\/em> (Hello, I want to learn French.)\u00a0See that little appendage on the “c”? It’s an accent mark, and it makes a huge difference in French pronunciation<\/a>.\u00a0This obviously begs the question\u2014how do we type these symbols?<\/p>\n

Let’s take a look at all of the French accent marks, followed by creative ways totype French accent marks on English keyboards.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc skip=4]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
French Accent Mark<\/th>Example<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
l\u2019accent aigu<\/em><\/td>\u00e9<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
l\u2019accent grave<\/em><\/td>\u00e0, \u00e8, \u00f9<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
l\u2019accent circonflexe<\/em><\/td>\u00e2, \u00ea, \u00ee, \u00f4, \u00fb<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
l\u2019accent tr\u00e9ma<\/em><\/td>\u00eb, \u00ef, \u00fc<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
la c\u00e9dille<\/em><\/td>\u00e7<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

1. L’accent Aigu<\/em> \u2014 Acute Accent\u00a0<\/em>( \u00b4 )<\/h2>\n

The accent aigu <\/em><\/strong>looks like this: \u00b4, a little apostrophe-like mark that floats up into the sky (\u00e9)<\/em>. This can only be on the letter\u00a0e<\/strong><\/em>. Think of eggs or a tasty French omelette to help you remember this rule.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0aigu<\/em> is placed on the end of a word to indicate that the letter e<\/em><\/strong> is pronounced like ay, as in march\u00e9<\/em><\/strong> (market), or parl\u00e9<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>(spoken) or the place you’ve probably already visited several times this week, caf\u00e9<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When the\u00a0aigu<\/em>\u00a0is used at the beginning of a word, it often indicates that an\u00a0s<\/em><\/strong> used to follow that vowel, for example \u00e9tudiant <\/strong><\/em>(student) or \u00e9tudier<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0(to study):<\/p>\n

Un \u00e9tudiant qui \u00e9tudie \u00e0 l’\u00e9cole.<\/em>
\nA student who studies at the school.<\/p>\n

2. L’accent Grave \u2014<\/em>\u00a0Grave Accent ( ` )<\/h2>\n

The accent grave<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>looks like this: `<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One clever way to remember the difference between the grave<\/em> and its mirror image the aigu<\/em> is to think of the English word “grave,” as in “I’m digging my own grave here.” The accent mark goes down, into the grave.<\/p>\n

The grave<\/em> can be found on an\u00a0a<\/strong><\/em>,\u00a0e<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0u<\/strong><\/em>. However, it only changes the pronunciation of the letter e<\/strong><\/em>. It makes the e<\/strong><\/em> sound like ehh.<\/em><\/p>\n

On the\u00a0a<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0u<\/strong><\/em>, it helps distinguish between words that are spelled the same:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
With Grave<\/th>Without Grave<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
o\u00f9<\/em> <\/a>\n (where)<\/td> ou<\/em> <\/a>\n \u00a0(or)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00e0<\/em> <\/a>\n (to)<\/td> il a<\/em> <\/a>\n (he has)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
l\u00e0<\/em> <\/a>\n (there)<\/td> la<\/em> <\/a>\n (the; her\/it)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
d\u00e8s<\/em> <\/a>\n (from)<\/td> des<\/em> <\/a>\n (of the;\u00a0some)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

3. L’accent Circonflexe <\/em><\/strong>\u2014 <\/em>Circumflex ( \u02c6 )<\/h2>\n

L’accent circonflexe<\/em>, <\/strong>or circumflex, is also called the hat or le petit chapeau<\/strong><\/em> (little hat). That’s easy to remember, isn’t it? This cute little hat goes on the a<\/strong><\/em>, e<\/strong><\/em>, i<\/strong><\/em>, o<\/strong><\/em> and u<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0(\u00e2, \u00ea, \u00ee, \u00f4, \u00fb<\/strong><\/em>).<\/p>\n

There are two good things about this accent that you will want to take note of.\u00a0The first is its\u00a0effect on pronunciation is so slight you won’t need to worry. In fact, there are some\u00a0language\u00a0reform groups\u00a0who are in favor of getting rid of it.<\/p>\n

The second thing is that there really aren’t that many words in French that wear the circumflex. You’ll probably run into the little hat if you travel and stay at a h\u00f4tel<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/i>(pronounced more or less like\u00a0owe-tel<\/em>, and almost identical to the English “hotel” without the “h”).<\/p>\n

Sometimes the circumflex is used as a marker to reference the old spelling of a word. With the word for\u00eat<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>(forest), the accent indicates that an s<\/em><\/strong> once followed the vowel, as it does in the identical English word “forest,” but over time was dropped. Think of it like a kind of gravestone that pays tribute to the\u00a0original Latin version of the word.<\/p>\n

Aside from these, the circumflex has a more important job when it is used to distinguish between words with different meanings. This is when you want to make sure that it is worn correctly. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
With Circumflex<\/th>Without Circumflex<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
d\u00fb <\/em> <\/a>\n (past participle of\u00a0devoir <\/em>)<\/td> du<\/em> <\/a>\n (a contraction\u00a0of\u00a0de<\/em> +\u00a0le<\/em>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
d\u00fb<\/em> <\/a>\n (owed)<\/td> du<\/em> <\/a>\n (of the, some)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
m\u00fbr<\/em> <\/a>\n (ripe)<\/td> mur<\/em> <\/a>\n (wall)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
s\u00fbr<\/em> <\/a>\n (sure)<\/td> sur<\/em> <\/a>\n (on, upon)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

And, just to keep you on your feet, there are a few French words that use the little hat simply to give the word more prestige. Among them are:<\/p>\n