{"id":120085,"date":"2024-02-21T15:39:44","date_gmt":"2024-02-21T20:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/french-alphabet\/"},"modified":"2024-10-29T10:06:47","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T14:06:47","slug":"french-alphabet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-alphabet\/","title":{"rendered":"The French Alphabet"},"content":{"rendered":"

It doesn\u2019t matter whether you\u2019re learning French to chat with native speakers or stream that new comedy in the original language:\u00a0You\u2019ll need to start from the very beginning<\/strong> to accomplish both goals, and learning the French alphabet is key to this.<\/p>\n

With this basic rundown on the French alphabet<\/strong>, you’ll learn the building blocks to the language and develop a solid base to build your knowledge on.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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

<\/p>\n

\"french-alphabet-infographic\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Alphabet in French<\/h2>\n

What are the 26 letters of the alphabet<\/strong> in French? Luckily for you, English and French both use the Roman alphabet. As a result, when English speakers start learning French, it\u2019s easy to dive headfirst into learning vocabulary<\/a> and conjugation<\/a>. Because why would you spend time learning the mechanics of a writing system you already know?<\/p>\n

However, bypassing this fundamental step will come back to bite you later as you struggle to pronounce common vowel pairings and accented letters that are staples to the French language. As tedious as it sounds, reviewing the basics will spare you some problems later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Letter<\/th>Name<\/th>Example<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
A<\/em><\/td>a<\/em><\/td>ami<\/i> (friend)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
B<\/em><\/td>b\u00e9<\/em><\/td>bon<\/i> (good)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
C<\/em><\/td>c\u00e9<\/em><\/td>chien<\/i> (dog)
\n c\u00e9leri<\/i> (celery)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
D<\/em><\/td>d\u00e9<\/em><\/td>danse<\/i> (dance)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
E<\/em><\/td>e<\/em><\/td>enfant<\/i> (child)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
F<\/em><\/td>effe<\/em><\/td>famille<\/i> (family)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
G<\/em><\/td>g\u00e9<\/em><\/td>grand<\/i> (big)
\n g\u00e9ographie<\/i> (geography)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
H<\/em><\/td>ache<\/em><\/td>hiver<\/i> (winter)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
I<\/em><\/td>i<\/em><\/td>\u00eele<\/i> (island)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
J<\/em><\/td>ji<\/em><\/td>jeu<\/i> (game)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
K<\/em><\/td>ka<\/em><\/td>kiwi<\/i> (kiwi)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
L<\/em><\/td>elle<\/em><\/td>lumi\u00e8re<\/i> (light)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
M<\/em><\/td>emme<\/em><\/td>maman<\/i> (mom)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
N<\/em><\/td>enne<\/em><\/td>noir<\/i> (black)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
O<\/em><\/td>o<\/em><\/td>oc\u00e9an<\/i> (ocean)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
P<\/em><\/td>p\u00e9<\/em><\/td>papier<\/i> (paper)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Q<\/em><\/td>qu<\/em><\/td>quart<\/i> (quarter)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
R<\/em><\/td>erre<\/em><\/td>rouge<\/i> (red)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
S<\/em><\/td>esse<\/em><\/td>sac<\/i> (bag)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
T<\/em><\/td>t\u00e9<\/em><\/td>table<\/i> (table)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
U<\/em><\/td>u<\/em><\/td>universit\u00e9<\/i> (university)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
V<\/em><\/td>v\u00e9<\/em><\/td>ville<\/i> (city)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
W<\/em><\/td>double v\u00e9<\/em><\/td>wagon<\/i> (wagon)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
X<\/em><\/td>ixe<\/em><\/td>xylophone<\/a><\/i> (xylophone)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Y<\/em><\/td>i grec<\/em><\/td>yaourt<\/i> (yogurt)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Z<\/em><\/td>z\u00e8de<\/em><\/td>z\u00e8bre<\/i> (zebra)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

Letters with Accents in French<\/h2>\n

Earlier, I said that English and French both share the Roman alphabet. However, French differs from English by also using accents on some of its letters. Accents in French are critical, as they have the power to alter the pronunciation or overall meaning<\/strong> of a word. <\/p>\n

The French language uses five accents:<\/p>\n