Atlantic Union Conference Teacher Bulletin www.teacherbulletin.org 7
Apprenons le Francais
Consonant Sounds
In the French language, most of the final consonants are not pronounced except for
final c, f, and r.
French Letters English Sounds Examples
c (before e, i, y) s ce, cinéma, Nancy
ca (before a, o, u) s ça, garçon
c (before a, o, u) k carotte, comme
ch sh chez, Michel
j, g (before e, i, y) similar to zh juge, nageons, je, Jim
g (before a, o) hard g gant, gomme
h (silent) at the word begins with hôtel
beginning of word the sound of the vowel
h (aspirate) at the far less aspirated than haine, cahier
beginning or in the in English
middle of the word
qu, final q k que, cinq
r There is no English sound rouge, train
equivalent. Imitate the
sound when you gargle.
s between vowels z poison, desert
s at beginning of word s six
s before a consonant s disque
ss s poisson, dessert
th t thé, théâtre
x x excellent, expert
x s only in six, dix and
soixante