Table of Contents

Pronunciation

Consonants

IPA Beginning of word Beg IPA Middle of word Mid IPA End of word End IPA
[b] beaucoup [boku] début [deby] tombe [tɔ̃ːb]
[d] de [də] idée [ide] grande [ɡʁɑ̃ːd]
[f] femme [fam] enfin [ɑ̃fɛ̃] neuf [nœːf]
[k] que [kə] lequel [ləkɛl] chaque [ʃak]
[l] le [lə] celui [səlɥi] il [il]
[m] même [mɛm] famille [famij] système [sistɛm]
[n] nous [nu] donner [dɔne] une [yn]
[p] peu [pø] époque [epɔk] type [tip]
[s] si [si] aussi [osi] place [plas]
[t] temps [tɑ̃] était [etɛ] toute [tut]
[v] vous [vu] avec [avɛk] arrive [aʁiːv]
[z] zone [zoːn] maison [mɛzɔ̃] quinze [kɛ̃ːz]
[ɡ] gauche [ɡoːʃ] également [eɡalmɑ̃] vague [vaɡ]
[ɲ] - gagner [ɡaɲe] ligne [liɲ]
[ʁ] raison [ʁɛzɔ̃] sera [səʁa] jour [ʒuːʁ]
[ʃ] chef [ʃɛf] échapper [eʃape] riche [ʁiʃ]
[ʒ] jamais [ʒamɛ] déjà [deʒa] rouge [ʁuːʒ]
[dʒ] Djibouti [dʒibuti] budget [bydʒɛ] Cambodge [kɑ̃bɔdʒ]
[tʃ] tchèque [tʃɛk] caoutchouc [kautʃu] match [matʃ]
[ŋ] - - - - meeting [miti]

Semivowels

IPA Beginning of word Beg IPA Middle of word Mid IPA End of word End IPA
[j] hiérarchie [jeʁaʁʃi] Dieu [djø] fille [fij]
[w] oui [wi] loi [lwa] - -
[ɥ] huitième [ɥitjɛm] lui [lɥi] - -

Oral vowels

IPA Beginning of word Beg IPA Middle of word Mid IPA End of word End IPA
[a] année [ane] travail [tʁavaj] moi [mwa]
[e] été [ete] général [ʒeneʁal] vérité [veʁite]
[i] ici [isi] ville [vil] qui [ki]
[o] aucune [okyn] côté [kote] nouveau [nuvo]
[u] ouverte [uvɛʁt] souvent [suvɑ̃] coup [ku]
[y] unique [ynik] étude [etyd] pu [py]
[ø] Europe [øʁɔp] deuxième [døzjɛm] lieu [ljø]
[œ] œil [œːj] seul [sœːl] - -
[ɔ] homme [ɔm] comme [kɔm] - -
[ə] - - besoin [bəzwɛ̃] ne [nə]
[ɛ] elle [ɛl] nouvelle [nuvɛl] sujet [syʒɛ]

Nasal vowels

IPA Beginning of word Beg IPA Middle of word Mid IPA End of word End IPA
[ɑ̃] ensuite [ɑ̃sɥit] exemple [ɛɡzɑ̃ːpl] seulement [sœlmɑ̃]
[ɔ̃] oncle [ɔ̃kl] longtemps [lɔ̃tɑ̃] nom [nɔ̃]
[ɛ̃] ainsi [ɛ̃si] principe [pʁɛ̃sip] loin [lwɛ̃]

Footnotes for the IPA chart

Note that this IPA chart doesn't include the following sounds:

  • [x] is a rare non-native consonant that may occur in some loaned Spanish and Arabic words (jota, khamsin).
  • [œ̃] is pronounced as [ɛ̃] by most French speakers in France, including Paris.
  • [ɑ] is now pronounced as [a] by most French speakers in France.