13.2: Types of Liaisons

Objectif

In this section, you will learn when to make a liaison.

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In French, a silent consonant at the end of a word can be pronounced if the word that follows begins with a vowel or vowel sound (silent h). This connection between the consonant and the vowel is called a liaison.

There are three types of liaisons, optional, forbidden, and obligatory.

Optional Liaisons

Some liaisons are optional.

(a) Between a plural noun and the adjective or a preposition that follows

 

 

des fenêtres ouvertes, les portes entrouvertes, les gens en classe

(b) You can make a liaison between est and sont and a word that comes after them, but French speakers often do not.

 

 

Il est ici. Ils sont à la gare. Il est obligé. Elles sont intelligentes.

(c) You can make a liaison between a preposition and the word that follows

 

sous un arbre, devant une maison, après avoir nettoyé

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Here's a summary of optional liaisons:

Optional Liaisons

Rule	Examples in French	Translations in English
Between a plural noun and the adjective or a preposition that follows	des fenêtres ouvertes les portes entrouvertes les gens en classe	open windows half-open, ajar, doors the people in class
Between the helping/auxiliary verbs avoir and être and the past participle	ils sont arrivés vous avez entendu	they arrivez you heard
Between a preposition and the word that follows	sous un arbre devant une maison après avoir nettoyé	under a tree in front of a house after having cleaned
Between an -er verb and the word that follows	aller ici se promener au parc	to go here to walk in the park

Forbidden Liaisons

In certain contexts, you cannot make a liaison.

(a) Never make a liaison after a proper name like Robert or Paris.

 

Robert est__anglais. Paris est__incroyable.

(b) Never make a liaison with the word et (and).

Hélène et Anne, Paul et Eric

(c) Never make a liaison between a noun and an adjective that follows it.

 

un cours horrible, un instrument élégant.

(d) Never make a liaison with numbers that begin with a vowel.

 

Je fête mes onze ans

And Never make a liaison between est and the number when telling time, but make a liaison between the number and heures.

 

Il est onze heures. Il est une heure moins cinq. Il est six__heures.

(e) Never make a liaison an aspirate h

 

Des haricots, Les héros, Un hamburger

(f) Never make a liaison with the word oui.

 

Un oui ou un non

(g) Never make a liaisons between a subjet and a verb

 

Quelqu'un appelle, Les étudiants aiment, Les chiens aboient

(h) Never make a liaison between an adverb that ends in -ment and an adjective that follows

 

Vraiment inquiet, Franchement inutile, Complètement étrange

(i) Never make a liaison between two words separated by punctuation

 

des amis, énergiques, étaient assis au café

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Here's a summary of cases in which there should never be liaison.

List of Forbidden Liaisons

Rule	Examples in French	Translations in English
After a proper name (e,g,m of a person or place)	Robert habite à Paris Paris est incroyable	Robert lives in Paris Paris is incredible
After the conjunction "and" (et)	et alors ? et on a dansé	and so? and we danced
Between a noun and an adjective that follows	étudiant intelligent lettres urgentes fruit orange animaux incroyables appartement énorme	intelligent student urgent letters orange fruit incredible animals enormous apartment
With numbers that begin with a vowel Between est and the number when telling time	Je fête mes onze ans, il est onze heures	It is eleven o'clock
With an aspirated h, or h aspiré. When an h is aspirated, it is considered a consonant, so there should be no liaison. This is also for differentiating between certain possible homophones.	Les héros Un hibou Des haricots	the heroes an owl beans
With the word oui	un oui un un non	a yes or a no
Between a subject and a verb. This means between any subject except for subject pronouns, and the verb that follows them.	les étudiants aiment quelqu'un appelle les chiens aboient	the students like someone is calling the dogs bark
Between an adverb that ends in -ment and an adjective that follows	Vraiment inquiet Franchement inutile Complètement étrange	really worried frankly useless completely strange
Between two words followed by a punctuation sign.	des amis, énergiques, étaient assis au café.	Energetic friends were sitting at the café.

Mandatory Liaisons

(a) Always make a liaison between articles or numbers and a noun that comes after and begins with a vowel or silent h.

 

dix heures, les écoles, des arbres, un appartement

(b) Always make a liaison between possessive adjectives and nouns that come after them.

 

Nos amis, Mon argent, Tes ordinateurs, Leurs éléphants

(c) Always make a liaison between a subject pronoun and a verb that begins with a vowel.

 

Nous aimons, Vous habitez, Ils adorent, On arrive !

(d) Always make a liaison after a short adverb

 

très occupée, tout étonné, plus organisé

(e) Some expressions have obligatory liaisons, espcially compound words.

 

Mandatory Liaisons

C’est-à-dire

Petit à petit

A tout à l’heure

Tout à coup

De temps en temps

Les États-Unis

Plus ou moins

Avant-hier

Tout à fait

Quand est-ce que…

(e) Always make a liaison between two pronouns:

 

Elles__y vont. Nous_en avons acheté

(f) Always make a liaison after the prepositions dans, chez, sans, and en.

 

chez__eux, dans__un sac, sans__argumenter, en__ajoutant

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Here's a summary of cases in which there should always be liaison.

List of Obligatory Liaisons

Rule	Examples in French	Translations in English
After the articles (un, des, les) and numbers	les écoles un enfant	the schools a child
After possessive adjectives (mon, ton, son, mes, tes, ses, nos, vos, leurs)	mon ordinateur leurs amies	my computer their friends
Between subject pronouns and the verb that follows	ils écoutent vous oubliez nous allons	they listen you forget (formal) we go
After a short adverb	très occupée tout étonné plus organisé	very busy totally surprised more organized
Between two pronouns	elles y vont nous en avons acheté	they go there we bought some of it
In the majority of compound expressions	c'est-à-dire tout à fait pied-à-terre Petit à petit A tout à l’heure Tout à coup De temps en temps Plus ou moins Avant-hier sous-entendu Etats-Unis	meaning totally short-term lodging little by little see you soon suddenly from time to time more or less the day before yesterday misunderstanding United States
after the following prepositions: dans chez sans en	chez eux dans un sac sans argumenter en ajoutant	at their house in a bag without arguing by adding

Additional Resources

• Read more about mandatory liaisons.
• Additional information about liaison rules.
• On this page, you can listen and repeat groups of words with or without liaisons.
• When to consider the letter h as a vowel and as a consonant.
• When is the liaison optional?