French Alphabet, Pronunciation, and Basic Grammar Guide

Alphabet (26 letters)

5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u), 21 consonants. Accents modify pronunciation: é, è, ê, ë, à, â, ù, û, ô, î, ï, ç.

Key Pronunciation Rules

• Vowels: a (father), e (bed/schwa), i (machine), o (boat), u (French u – lips rounded).
• Consonants: Most similar to English. Key differences: c = /s/ before e,i,y else /k/; g = /ʒ/ before e,i,y else /g/; h silent; r uvular; s = /s/ initially, /z/ between vowels; qu = /k/; ch = /ʃ/; gn = /ɲ/; ll often /j/.
• Final consonants usually silent (except c, r, f, l).
• Liaison/enchaînement: Linking across word boundaries.

Basic Grammar

• Nouns: Masculine/feminine gender (often -e = feminine; -ment, -ent = masculine).
• Adjectives: Agree in gender/number; feminine usually adds -e.
• Verbs (present, regular): -er: -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent; -ir: -is, -is, -it, -issons, -issez, -issent; -re: -s, -s, -, -ons, -ez, -ent.
• Irregular verbs: être, avoir, aller, faire, etc. – must memorize.

Punctuation

« » for quotes; space before : ; ? !; decimal comma (1,5).