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1.12: Structure - Comment ça s'écrit ?

  • Page ID
    104323
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    Objectifs

    In this section, you will learn about: 

    • The French alphabet
    • French accent marks

    Media Alternative

    Listen to the audio clips that follow on this page to hear the French pronunciation of vocabulary and examples presented.

    On étudie !

    L'alphabet français

    Alphabet
    Lettres Exemples
    A comme alligator
    B comme bison
    C comme canari
    D comme dauphin
    E comme éléphant
    F comme faon
    G comme girafe
    H comme hamster
    I comme iguane
    J comme jaguar
    K comme koala
    L comme lion
    M comme mule
    N comme narval
    O comme orque
    P comme panthère
    Q comme quetzal
    R comme rat
    S comme scorpion
    T comme tigre
    U comme urial
    V comme vautour
    W comme wallaby
    X comme xérus
    Y comme yack
    Z comme zèbre

    Ressources supplémentaires

    Les signes diacritiques

    Here are the important accents and diacritical marks to remember in French. They are important for both spelling and pronunciation:

    Les signes diacritiques
    Signes Exemples Explications
    accent aigu (´) étudiant, marié, café Indicates that an is pronounced like the underlined vowels in day or late, but shorter and crisper. When a French word begins with é is often means that an s would appear at the beginning of the English equivalent: éponge -> sponge; état —> state; étudiante —> student.
    accent grave (`) très, à Indicates that an e is pronounces like the in the English word pet. For example: très, nièce, père. When it is placed over an a or a u, it does not change the pronunciation, but it does distinguish words. Compare: la (the) vs. (there); ou (or) vs. (where); a (has) vs. à (to, at).
    accent circonflexe (ˆ) hôpital, âge, île, août, sûr This mark can appear above any vowel. It indicates that a letter has been dropped form an older version of the word, usually an s. This can help us identify mots apparentés. For example: hôpital (hospital), forest (forêt), fête (feast). L'accent circonflexe can also help distinguish between words with similar spellings: mûr (ripe) vs. mur (wall); sûr (sure) vs. sur (on).
    tréma (¨) naïve, Haïti, égoïste Indicates that the vowel under it must be pronounced separately form the vowel next to it (without blending)
    cédille (ç) ça, garçon, français Softens the letter c to be pronounced like an English /s/ instead of a /k/.

    On pratique !

    Activité A

    The names of these animals begin with which letter of the alphabet? Don't forget the appropriate accent if there's one. 

    1. __léphant
    2. __anard
    3. __oala
    4. __rque
    5. __igre
    6. __guane
    7. __lligator
    8. __ion
    9. ________èbre
    10. __allaby

    This page titled 1.12: Structure - Comment ça s'écrit ? is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by William J. Carrasco, Shahrzad Zahedi, & Caren Barnezet Parrish.