4.1: Double Consonants

Objectifs

In this section, you will learn how to pronounce double consonants.

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Common double consonants

The consonants that double up most often are: c, f, l, m, n, p, r, s et t.

 

Double consonants

Consonants	Examples
cc	accélération, occulter, succint
ff	effacer, suffir, souffrance
ll	aller, illégal, ville, jumelle
mm	immunité, communication, sommaire
nn	connaissance, antenne
pp	frapper, apporter, application
rr	marraine, correction, irrégulier
ss	poisson, frisson, finesse
tt	attribuer, cadette, littérature

LL

The consonant that doubles up the most is the letter « l ». When preceded by the vowels a, e or o, it is pronounced [l], like normal L in English

 

balle, pelle, collection, molle, pull

When the « l » is part of the grapheme « -ill », it will be pronounced [j], like a Y in English:

 

abeille, billard, famille

The only common exceptions to this are

 

ville, mille, tranquille, Lille.

CC

 

accalmie, occulte, raccourci

When a double cc is followed by an e or an i, the second c will be pronounced [s], as in:

 

accent, vaccination

SS

In order to preserve the [s] sound and avoid being pronounced as a [z], the letter s must be doubled up between vowels. Compare, for example:

 

poison (s =[z]) vs. poisson (ss = [s]).

This phonetic distinction makes the difference between poison (poison) and fish (poisson).

Here is a list of these most common double consonants with their pronunciation:

 

Common double consonants

Double consonant	Pronunciation	Examples	Notes
bb	[b]	scrabble, abbé, gibbeux, rabbin, sabba
cc	[k] [ks]	accalmie, occulte, raccourci accent, vaccin	When a double cc is followed by an e or an i, the second c will be pronounced [s].
dd	[d]	addition, adduction, bouddhisme, cheddar, reddition
ff	[f]	affection, coiffer, offrir, truffe
gg	[g] [ʒ]	aggraver, jogging, reggae, toboggan suggestion	When gg is followed by an e or an i (exception in words borrowed from other languages) the double gg will be pronounced [ʒ].
ll -ill -all, -ell, -oll -ille	[j] [l] [l]	balle, pelle, collection, pull famille, abeille, vieille ville, mille, tranquille	The consonant that doubles up the most is the L. When preceded by the vowels a, e or o, it is pronounced [l], like normal L in English. When the L is part of the grapheme -ill, it will be pronounces [j], like a Y in English. The only common exceptions to this are ville, mille and tranquille, along with place names like Lille.
mm	[m]	homme, enflammer, récemment, immature
nn	[n]	colonne, panne, conditionnel, tonne
pp	[p]	appareil, zapper, rappel, trappe
rr	[ʁ]	amarre, charrue, ferraille, serrure
ss	[s]	bâtisse, housse, moisson, tresse	In order to preserve the [s] sound and avoid be pronounced as a [z], the letter s must be doubled up between vowels. Compare, for example, poison (s =[z]) and poisson (ss = [s]). This phonetic distinction makes the difference between poison (poison) and fish (poisson).
tt	[t]	frotter, patte, trottoir
zz	[z]	blizzard, grizzli, jazz, mezzanine, paparazzi, pizza

Consonants that do not double up

The following five consonants are never doubled:

j, q, v, w and x.

Consonants h and k only double in the words

 

wahhabisme, wahhabite and Akkadien, Drakkar and trekking.

Contexts in which double consonants are found

Masculine nouns and adjectives ending in -on, will become -onne in their feminine form (e.g., bon vs. bonne).

Whether or not a consonant is doubled depends on its surroundings (preceding or following letters) and its position in the word. For example, the doubling of a consonant almost never occurs after another consonant, after the pronounced letter e [ə], after an accented vowel, or after the letter groups ai, au and oi.

Double consonants in prefixes

Double consonants often appear after a prefix when the final letter of the prefix and the initial letter of the radical are identical. For example: sur- + réaliste = surréaliste.

Here is a list of common prefixes with double consonants:

 

Prefixes with double consonants

Prefix	Words containing the prefix
acc-	accordéon, accueil, accrocher
aff-	affiche, affaire, affectueux
app-	application, appareil, apporter
arr-	arrêt, arroser, arracher
att-	attaquer, attention, attentat
eff-	effort, effroi
ess-	essor, essai, essentiel
ill-	illisible, illusoire
imm-	immense, immigration
inn-	innovation, innocence
irr-	irréversible, irréaliste
occ-	occasion, occident
off-	offense, office, offrande

Here are some words whose first consonant never doubles:

 

Prefixes whose consonants do not double

Prefix	Examples
ab-	abandon, abîme
ad-	adage, adorer
ag-	agacer, agonie
am-	amas, amour
ana-	analyse, anoblir
an-	anarchie, aneth
apo-	apogée, apôtre
éc-	écaille, éclair
el-	élan, électeur
er-	érafler, ériger, érudit
in-	inaction, inoccupé, inodore

Double consonants with suffixes

In most cases, the addition of a suffix will cause doubling of consonants:

Some adverbs ending in -mment. Example:

 

constant (constant) => constamment (constantly)

violent (violent) => violemment (violently)

Verbs derivatived from nouns ending in -on will double up the n:

 

don => donner

pardon => pardonner.

In some cases, the addition of a suffix will eliminate a double consonant:

 

homme => homicide

monnaie => monétaire

chatte => chaton

CC

The consonant c is doubled in words that begin with:

 

(a) acc- :

/k/ : accueil, accabler

/ks/ : accès

Exceptions : académie, acoustiques, acupuncture, acadien

(b) occ- :

 

/k/ : occupation /ks/ : occident

Exceptions : océan, oculaire, octobre

(c) succ- :

 

/k/ : succulent 

/ks/ : succès, successeur, succint

(d) sacc- :

 

/k/ : saccage, saccharine

Exceptions : sacrifice, sacoche, sacrilège

ff

The consonant f is doubled in words that begin with:

 

(a) aff- : affiliation, affaire, afférence

Exceptions : afin, africain

(b) eff- : effet, efficace, effervescent

(c) diff- : différence, diffusion, difficulté

(d) souff- : souffrir, souffler, souffleur

Exceptions: soufisme, soufre

(e) suff- : suffisant, suffrage, suffocation

(f) siff- : siffler

ll

The consonant l is doubled:

 

(a) in words that begin with -ill : illégal, illégitime

(b) in words that end with -ille, -elle, -alle (but the pronunciation varies) : fille vs. ville

mm

The consonant m is doubled in words that begin with:

 

(a) imm- : immense, immersion

(b) comm- : commerce, communication, communauté

nn

The consonant n is doubled in words that begin with:

 

(a) conn- : connaître, connivence

(b) inn- : innovation, inné

(c) in words that end with -onner : donner, s’abonner

(d) in words that end with -onnel : personnel, rationnel

Exceptions: téléphoner, détoner

pp

The consonant p is doubled:

 

(a) in words that begin with supp- : supprimer, supposition

(b) in words that begin with app-  ou rapp-: apprendre, apparaître, rapporter

rr

The consonant r is doubled in words that begin with:

 

(a) corr- : correspondance, corrélation, corriger

(b) irr- : irrégulier, irrationnel

tt

The consonant t is doubled:

 

(a) in words that begin with att-, ou attr- : attendre, attribution, atténuer

(b) in words that end with -ette : chaussette, galette

Here is a summary of prefixes and suffixes with doubled consonants:

 

Prefixes and suffixes with doubled consonants

Doubles consonants	Prefixes et suffixes
cc	acc-, occ-, succ-, sacc-
ff	aff-, eff-, diff-, souff-, suff-, siff-
ll	ill-, ille
mm	imm-, comm-
nn	conn-, -onner
pp	app-, -rapp-, supp-
rr	irr-, corr-, charr-
ss	ess-
tt	att-, attr-, -ette

Doubled consonants in feminine nouns and adjectives

Consonant doubling appears in feminine noun and adjective endings. Examples include:

 

-el/-elle (réel, réelle),

-eil/-eille (pareil, pareille),

-en/-enne (ancien, ancienne )

-on/onne (patron, patronne)

-et/ette (violet, violette).

Double consonants in conjugated verb forms

Double consonants are found in the conjugated forms of certain verbs, including:

• the stems -elle- and -ette- of certain verbs in -eler (e.g., appeler => appelle) and -eter (e.g., jeter => jette )
• the -enne- in the stem of the verbs tenir (e.g., tienne) and venir (e.g., viennent)

The double consonant rr in the future indicative and present conditional of the verbs courir (e.g., courrait) envoyer (e.g., enverrai), mourir (e.g., mourra), pouvoir (e.g., pourrai) and voir (e.g., verrons);

Additional Resources

Watch this video about the doubling of consonants in French.

Let's practice!

Activity A

Choose the correct spelling.

 

1. Je m'____apele ____appelle.
2. Il marche dans le ____dessert ____désert.
3. ____Comment ____Coment vas-tu ?
4. Vous vous ____apelez ____appellez Gérard ?
5. Au restaurant, ils ____choississent ____choisissent la tarte aux pommes.
6. Si je ____réusissais ____réussissais mon examen, ce serait vraiment super.
7. Parlez ____lentement ____lentemment s'il vous plaît.
8. Nous oublions toujours d'ajouter les ____acents ____accents.
9. On n'aime pas ____tellement ____telement la chimie, c'est compliqué.
10. Les enfants ____metent ____mettent la table et puis la débarrassent.

Activity B

Double consonants or not? Listen the choose the right spelling.

 

Answer

1. courir ; 2. apporter ; 3. amener ; 4. voyelle ; 5. suffir ; 6. aimer ; 7. donner ; 8. fils ; 9. femme; 10. arriver.

1. ____rr ____r.
2. ____pp ____p.
3. ____mm ____m.
4. ____ll ____l.
5. ____ff ____f.
6. ____mm ____m.
7. ____nn ____n.
8. ____ll ____l.
9. ____mm ____m.
10. ____rr ____r.