Tongue of Fire

"And [the apostles] saw what appeared to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in foreign languages as the Spirit enabled them." - Acts 2:3-4

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Lesson 1.6: Pronunciation Rules

In this lesson, we’ll take a closer look at the rules and patterns that make up French pronunciation. There are too many to list in one lesson, but we’ll explain the three most important ones here: silent ending consonants, digraphs, and liaison.

Silent ending consonants

When a French word ends in a consonant, that consonant is silent by default.

Examples: ballet (ballet); bois (wood); sourd (deaf)

That means that a silent E can actually change a word’s pronunciation by making its final consonant pronounced.

Example: vert (green, m/s); verte (green, f/s)

However, the consonants c, r, f, and l are typically pronounced at the ends of words (Think “careful”).

Examples: Marc (given name), finir (to finish), prof (teacher), cheval (horse)

Digraphs

A digraph is a pair of letters that make a single sound together. There’s no need to memorize them, but here are some common French digraphs to be aware of:

Liaison

Liaison is yet another rule that to help avoid bordering vowel sounds. It’s a standard where, if a word ending in a consonant is followed by a word beginning with a vowel sound, the consonant should be pronounced (even if it would otherwise be silent).

Example: un haut arbre (a tall tree) Example: un grand homme (a large man; a great man) Example: un crayon écharpe (a sharp pencil) Example: Je suis actrice. (I am an actress.)

Liaison doesn't apply after the word et (and).

Example: un chat et un chien (a cat and a dog)
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