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How to pronounce the final consonant of a word in French?



Many of you often ask me:

WHY is French so complicated to pronounce?


Thanks to this video created by Accès Éditions, I suggest you discover the origin of the French language and its evolution over the centuries. You will better understand the reasons of this complexity and the reason of its peculiar pronunciation compared to the other Romance languages.



From the Gaulish, to the Latin, passing by the Frankish, little by little, a new language is formed: the Roman. That said, each region spoke a dialect of this language, each one writing it in its own way. Centuries pass and the dialect of the Paris region stands out from the rest because it is spoken by the king. It is French.

The will to impose this dialect as a national language of communication is felt. It is thus necessary to standardize the language and to codify it.

Linguists of the time thought that the ethymology of words should be reflected in their spelling. So they invented a mixture of the way words are pronounced and the way they were spelled in the original language. I recommend that you read the article The evolution of French and its spelling reforms since the Middle Ages to learn more. To give you an example, the word time was written before tens or tems in French, but from the 16th century it will be written temps because it is derived from the Latin word tempus.


This technique has made it possible to differentiate in writing words that are pronounced the same way, but on the other hand, it has greatly complicated spelling and is at the origin of the difficulties that you have encountered up to now in your learning of the French language.

You will find many explanations on this subject on the internet and in French language books. Many attempts have been made to rationalize the pronunciation of French words in order to facilitate learning and alleviate your suffering by simplifying the rules.

Those who are in class with me know that I am quite realistic and prefer to state all eventualities from the beginning. Indeed, while I understand that simplifications can initially help to get a sense of satisfaction more quickly in the learning process, I have observed that they eventually lead to confusion when you discover that the subject is more complex than what you have been taught and that you will have to modify your knowledge.


Here are some guidelines to help you determine

WHEN to pronounce consonants at the end of words, or not.


1. B, D, G, H, P, S, T, X, Z are not pronounced.


2. L, C, F, R, M, K, Q are pronounced.



3. The combination of a vowel with an -n forms a nasal sound.


4. When a word ends with 2 or more consonants, only the first one is pronounced or combined with the previous vowel to form a nasal sound, the 2nd and following are not pronounced.


Exemples : le pont, rond, nous parlons, il perd, les jours, le port, les champs, quand, un accord.


How to practice your French pronunciation?


The best way to practice, in my opinion, is to listen to French and then repeat what you hear. Isn't that how we learn to speak our native language?

I suggest you listen to the French podcasts for which transcripts are available.


Method :

1. Listen to the podcast without reading the transcript to practice your listening comprehension.

2. Listen a second time, pausing after each sentence so you can repeat what you heard.

3. If you want to take the exercise a step further, record yourself and then listen to where your pronunciation differs from that of the French speaker.


Here are some free sites where you can find podcasts in French, with the transcript:

> Podcasts de RFI

> Podcast de France Culture Et maintenant ?


Feel free to share your impressions and learning methods in the comments area!


Happy learning!



 
 
 

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