{"id":119130,"date":"2023-05-04T22:57:38","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T02:57:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/liaison-french\/"},"modified":"2025-01-29T05:03:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T10:03:28","slug":"liaison-french","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/liaison-french\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use French Liaisons"},"content":{"rendered":"

Using French liaisons<\/strong> (the linking of sounds between two words) correctly will instantly make you sound like a more natural, fluid French speaker.\u00a0But how do you use them?<\/p>\n

Keep reading to learn how to master the French liaison and stop guessing when French letters are silent or spoken<\/strong>.\u00a0
\n[fluentu-toc]
\n<\/p>\n

What is a Liaison?<\/h2>\n

French liaison <\/strong>is the linking of sounds between two words in certain contexts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Simply stated, it’s the practice of taking the last letter of one word<\/strong> (which normally wouldn’t be pronounced) and linking it to the beginning of the next word<\/strong>. This only happens when the second word begins with a vowel sound<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

But, why?<\/em> Well, since final consonants in French words are (usually) not pronounced, most of them end with a vowel sound. This means that to go from the end of one word to the beginning of a word with a vowel, you need to make a glottal stop<\/a> (a sort of vocal hitch, like when British people with a Cockney accent pronounce “butter” or “bottle” without saying the middle “t” sound).<\/p>\n

To avoid having to make this sound, you pronounce the final consonant of the word<\/strong>, thus allowing the two words to be “linked” together.<\/p>\n

For example, when saying les copains\u00a0<\/em>(friends), the final “s” of les <\/em>isn’t pronounced since\u00a0copains<\/em> begins with a consonant.<\/p>\n

However, in the case of les amis\u00a0<\/em>(another way to say “friends”), to avoid having to make a glottal stop between les<\/em> and amis<\/em>,\u00a0<\/em>you pronounce the “s” at the end of les<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In practice, things get a little more complicated. In this post we’ll walk you through all the instances where you should and shouldn’t use liaisons<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

But first, it’s important to know how these sounds are actually pronounced.<\/p>\n

How to Pronounce Letters in Liaisons<\/h2>\n

In some cases, the letter at the end of the word is merely pronounced as written.<\/p>\n

For example, chez (at [someone’s] home) which is usually pronounced like \u201cshay,\u201d is pronounced with a “z” sound at the end when liaised: chez Anne<\/a> (pronounced like “shay-zanne”).<\/p>\n

With some other letters, however, the pronunciation is changed slightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t
<\/td>Normal pronunciation<\/th>Pronunciation when liaised<\/th>Example of liaison<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
S<\/td>The final \"s\" on a word like ils<\/em>\u00a0(they)\u00a0is normally silent<\/td>The \"s\" is voiced as a \u201cz\" sound when liaised<\/td>des enfants<\/em> (some children)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
D<\/td>The final \"d\" on a word is normally silent, like with grand<\/em>\u00a0(big)\u00a0or quand<\/em>\u00a0(when)<\/td>The \"d\" is devoiced to \"t\" when liaised<\/td>un grand enfant<\/em> (a big child)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
N or M<\/td>The final \"n\" and \"m\" in a word normally nasalize the preceding vowel, like in pain<\/em>\u00a0(bread)<\/td>\"n\" and \"m\" are slightly de-nasalized when liaised<\/td>The \"n\" in the liaison in bien-aim\u00e9<\/em> (beloved) is sort of like the denasalized \"n\" in bonne<\/em> (good [feminine])<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

Generally speaking, these rules make it easier to distinguish between similarly-pronounced sentences. For example, you wouldn’t have a hard time telling the difference between Ils ont\u00a0<\/em>(They have) and Ils sont (They are) because of the difference in the ways the letter “s” is pronounced.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, however, there are a few terms that end up sounding rather similar. Consider:<\/p>\n