{"id":118121,"date":"2023-06-22T01:28:02","date_gmt":"2023-06-22T05:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/french-vowels\/"},"modified":"2025-01-17T00:05:34","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T05:05:34","slug":"french-vowels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-vowels\/","title":{"rendered":"French Vowels: The Complete Guide to the 15 Vowel Sounds"},"content":{"rendered":"

The French vowels are a<\/em>, e<\/em>, i<\/em>, o<\/em>, u<\/em> and y<\/em>. But there are way more French vowel\u00a0sounds<\/em> than there are vowels.<\/p>\n

Below I’ll cover how the vowels are formed in your mouth, along with examples, so you can master the French letters and spellings<\/a> that produce them.\u00a0Then, we’ll look at ways to practice pronouncing them correctly, so you can sound as French as possible.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

What Are the French Vowel Sounds?<\/h2>\n

Simply put, a vowel is what happens when you’re making a sound without constricting it in some way in your mouth or throat. You’re making a consonant when you constrict the airflow (by closing your tongue against your teeth, for example).<\/p>\n

Vowels are the base of syllables, and how you position your lips and tongue while making them affects how they sound.<\/p>\n

Standard French has about 13-15 vowel sounds, depending on exactly how you count\u2014what everyone can agree on is that this is a language with a lot of them. They’re not necessarily easy for English speakers to master. But they’re possible.<\/p>\n

Close vowels<\/strong> are referred to by some experts as high vowels<\/strong>, and open\u00a0vowels<\/strong> are sometimes referred to as low vowels<\/strong>. This is just a matter of\u00a0using different words for the same thing; I’ll use the terms “close” and “open” throughout. Close vowels mean that your tongue is higher, closing off the space inside your mouth more. Open vowels indicate\u00a0the opposite.<\/p>\n

We also talk about vowel backness<\/strong> and frontness<\/strong>, or how far your tongue is when making vowels to the front and back.<\/p>\n

And, finally, we have rounded<\/strong> or unrounded<\/strong> vowels, which refers to what you’re doing with your lips. In the land of French vowels, you will round them a lot more than in English.<\/p>\n

This post is\u00a0organized by vowel sound and will use the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet<\/a>) symbols, which are the letters used to indicate pronunciation in most good dictionaries with complete and helpful features.<\/p>\n

The English examples are from standard American English, and may not apply to all accents.<\/p>\n

Note that in\u00a0English, we unconsciously\u00a0make many\u00a0of our vowels into diphthongs (or a combination of two vowels), as in this video<\/a>, which shows the [e] and [eI].<\/p>\n

So when\u00a0pronouncing [e]\u00a0in French (explained below), try to get a clean, true, single vowel sound.<\/p>\n

Close Vowels in French<\/h2>\n

\/i\/ in vie<\/em><\/h3>\n

This is known as the frontal close unrounded vowel, and it’s not too difficult for English speakers. It’s like the “ee” in the English word “knee<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Examples:<\/p>\n

ici<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(here)<\/p>\n

vie<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(life)<\/p>\n

rire<\/em> (laugh)<\/p>\n

\/u\/ in fou<\/em><\/h3>\n

This\u00a0is similar to the vowel in “boo<\/strong>t,” but more rounded. Try saying that vowel, but with your lips in a tight circle. The resulting sound might not seem too different to you, but if you do your \/u\/<\/strong>s this way, you’ll sound much more French.<\/p>\n

Examples:<\/p>\n

fou<\/em> (crazy)<\/p>\n

sous<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(under)<\/p>\n

vous<\/em> (you)<\/p>\n

\/y\/ in su<\/em><\/h3>\n

I’ve previously written an entire post about what a nightmare this\u00a0frontal close rounded vowel\u00a0is, and an in-depth guide to conquering it<\/a>. To many English speakers, it sounds like \/u\/ above; if this is the case for you, definitely click on that link for the dedicated article.<\/p>\n

In terms of pronunciation, this sound is differentiated from \/u\/ by moving the tongue up to the front. If you have a perfect sou<\/strong>s<\/em> in the previous example, try “freezing” your mouth in that position and then moving your tongue forward. The result should be the vowel sound in:<\/p>\n

su<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(known, past participle of savoir)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Another way to get there is to travel from another close vowel in this section, \/i\/.<\/p>\n

What’s the difference?<\/p>\n

Mainly, it’s the rounding of the lips, so try saying lit<\/em> (bed) and then keeping your mouth the same (perhaps the tongue just a bit further back) and rounding your lips to get lu<\/em>\u00a0(read, past participle of lire)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Examples:<\/p>\n

su<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(known, past participle of savoir)<\/em><\/p>\n

lu<\/em> (read)<\/p>\n

tu<\/em> (you)<\/p>\n

Close-mid Vowels in French<\/h2>\n

\/e\/ in nez<\/em><\/h3>\n

The close-mid frontal unrounded vowel is like \/i\/ but a bit more open, like the vowel in “play<\/strong>,” but be careful not to make a diphthong of it when speaking French.<\/p>\n

Examples:<\/p>\n

nez<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(nose)<\/p>\n

parler<\/em> (to speak)<\/p>\n

avez<\/em> (have)<\/p>\n

\/\u00f8\/ in peu<\/em><\/h3>\n

This is the rounded twin of the \/e\/ above. As was the case with \/y\/, we don’t have this close-mid frontal rounded vowel in American English, so we have to learn it.<\/p>\n

Again, the easiest way is approaching it from the \/e\/ that we know, rounding our lips and letting the tongue relax just a tiny bit.<\/p>\n

Examples:<\/p>\n

n\u0153ud<\/em> (knot)<\/p>\n

peu<\/em> (little)<\/p>\n

deux<\/em> (two)<\/p>\n

\/o\/ in sot<\/em><\/h3>\n

This close-mid back vowel is similar to our “o,” as in “so<\/strong>,” but without the diphthong that we unconsciously add. Therefore, the French sot<\/em> (stupid)\u00a0sounds the same, but shorter and cleaner.<\/p>\n

Examples:<\/p>\n

sot<\/em> (stupid)<\/p>\n

moto<\/em> (motorbike)<\/p>\n

chose<\/em> (thing)<\/p>\n

Open-mid Vowels in French<\/h2>\n

\/\u025b\/ in cr\u00eape<\/em><\/h3>\n

The open-mid front unrounded\u00a0vowel is the vowel in “be<\/strong>d” for Americans. You use it in French when you ask for a delicious cr\u00ea<\/strong>pe<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>or c\u00e8<\/strong>pe<\/em>\u00a0(cep, a type of mushroom<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Examples:<\/p>\n

cr\u00eape<\/em> (crepe)<\/p>\n

c\u00e8pe<\/em> (a type of mushroom)<\/p>\n

neige<\/em> (snow)<\/p>\n

\/\u0153\/ in \u0153uf<\/em><\/h3>\n

The open-mid front rounded vowel is, like\u00a0\/\u00f8\/ and \/y\/, unfamiliar to American English speakers. It can be achieved by taking the\u00a0\/\u025b\/ <\/strong>above and pronouncing it with rounded lips.<\/p>\n

Examples:<\/p>\n

jeune<\/em> (young)<\/p>\n

\u0153uf<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(egg)<\/p>\n

feuille<\/em> (sheet)<\/p>\n

The difference between\u00a0\/\u0153\/ and\u00a0\/\u00f8\/ is that the tongue is a little bit lower for\u00a0\/\u0153\/. You’ll also notice that both vowels tend to be spelled the same way in French:\u00a0eu<\/em><\/strong> and\u00a0\u0153u<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In these cases, you should pronounce \/\u0153\/ (somewhat lower tongue) when the syllable ends in a consonant and \/\u00f8\/ when it doesn’t. Try comparing peu<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>and peur<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(fear).<\/p>\n

\/\u0259\/<\/strong>\u00a0in rappeler<\/em><\/h3>\n

The schwa or dropped e is a mid-central, somewhat rounded vowel. Some consider it identical to \/\u0153\/ above, when it’s actually pronounced.<\/p>\n

It also tends to drop out of words, as heard in rappe<\/strong>ler<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(to remind), where \/\u0281ap\u0259le\/<\/span>\u00a0sometimes becomes \/\u0281aple\/.<\/span><\/p>\n

Examples:<\/p>\n

rappeler<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(to remind)<\/p>\n

je<\/em> (I)<\/p>\n

\/\u0254\/ in note<\/em><\/h3>\n

This open-mid back rounded vowel is as in the word “though<\/strong>t,” but with the tongue further forward and the lips rounded.<\/p>\n

Examples:<\/p>\n

note<\/em> (note)<\/p>\n

sol<\/em> (ground)<\/p>\n

homme<\/em> (male)<\/p>\n

Open or Low Vowels in French<\/h2>\n

\/a\/ in l\u00e0-bas<\/em><\/h3>\n

This is like the American English “fa<\/strong>ther” but with your tongue just a bit higher and further forward.<\/p>\n

Examples:<\/p>\n

l\u00e0-bas<\/em> (over there)<\/p>\n

maladie<\/em> (illness)<\/p>\n

ami<\/em> (friend)<\/p>\n

Nasal Vowels in French<\/h2>\n

\/\u00e3\/, \/\u025b\u0303\/, \/\u0153\u0303\/ and \/\u0254\u0303\/<\/h3>\n

The nasal vowels are\u00a0cousins to a few of the vowels above that are pronounced by taking those vowels and putting them up your nose. It seems like a hilarious thing to do, and it is:<\/p>\n

<\/lite-youtube><\/p>\n

It’s also not a particularly hard vowel sound to achieve. Just remember, when you see syllables that close with an m<\/em><\/strong> or an n<\/em><\/strong> (and that are not followed immediately by a mute e<\/em><\/strong>)<\/em>,\u00a0you do not pronounce the m<\/strong> <\/em>or n<\/em><\/strong>, you rather nasalize the vowel.<\/p>\n

In IPA, they’re indicated like their vowel cousins, but with a tilde ( \u02dc ) on top. We thus have words like:<\/p>\n

champ<\/em> (field)<\/p>\n

fin<\/em> (end)<\/p>\n

bon<\/em> (good)<\/p>\n

humble<\/em> (humble)<\/p>\n

How to Practice French Vowels<\/h2>\n