Challenge #7

It may seem too easy, even futile, but believe me, knowing how to say the alphabet in French is more useful than you think. Imagine having to spell out your name because they can’t find your hotel reservation; having to give your flight number because your luggage hasn’t arrived; or being on the phone and the receptionist can’t see who you want to talk to when you try to pronounce the person’s name.

As for me, knowing the alphabet in the language of the country I was in came in very handy when I had to do a Covid-19 PCR test and the name on the test result had to be 100% identical to the name on my passport.

The same alphabet as in English, right?

Although the French and English alphabets both have 26 letters, their pronunciation is somewhat different.

Moreover, in French, with accents and cedillas, there are 16 additional letters/pronunciations (à, â, æ, ç, é, è, ê, ë, œ, î, ï, ô, ö, ù, û, ü, ÿ). However, this is a complete lesson in itself, and I suggest we save these sixteen special letters for a future post. 

So, the alphabet has six vowels (a, e, i, o, u, y) and twenty consonants (b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, z) and here’s how to pronounce them in French.

Letter	Pronunciation	Letter	Pronunciation
Aa	ah	Nn	enn
Bb	bé	Oo	o
Cc	cé	Pp	pé
Dd	dé	Qq	ku
Ee	e (almost uh)	Rr	err
Ff	eff	Ss	ess
Gg	gé	Tt	té
Hh	ash	Uu	u (but not like oo)
Ii	i (almost eee)	Vv	vé
Jj	ji	Ww	double vé
Kk	ka	Xx	iks
Ll	ell	Yy	i grec
Mm	emm	Zz	zed

Listen before continuing

I recorded myself reciting the alphabet in French. Please click on the link to listen to the whole thing before continuing to read this post.

Some pitfalls to avoid

As you may have noticed, some pronunciations are identical in English and French, but refer to a different letter of the alphabet. There’s no magic trick to remembering this, just learning the alphabet by heart. But don’t worry, we’ve all been there too when learning the alphabet in English 😉

Here, in my opinion, are the three comparisons to watch out for.

G vs J

As you have heard, it’s the exact opposite of pronunciation in French and English.

“Gi” in English refers to the letter G, whereas in French it’s the letter J.

“Gé” in English refers to the letter J, whereas in French it’s the letter G.

E vs I

Here, it’s the “eee” sound that doesn’t refer to the same letter. In English, it refers to the E, whereas in French, it’s the I.

U and W

Here, it’s more of a novelty than a trap. As you’ve heard, the letter U is not pronounced “ooo” in French. The “u” sound doesn’t exist in English, so you’ll have to learn to pronounce it differently than in English.

Most of my students find this quite difficult.

I suggest they find a word where they can pronounce it very well. For some, it was the name Juliette, for others, jus de pommes (apple juice). Then make a list of words with the “u” sound, alternating with the word you’ve mastered. For example: Juliette, justice, Juliette, univers, Juliette, absolu, Juliette, tortue, etc.

As for the W, well, in French we see two Vs, not two Us, which explains why it’s pronounced “double vé”.

A personal story

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before, but I started learning English at the age of 6, and my first name was a nightmare for me: not only does the sound “th” not exist in French, but when I spelled it, there were two traps in six letters. Today, I can pronounce and spell it in both English and French, right side up and upside down. In other words, just because part of your learning process is challenging, doesn’t mean you can’t overcome it.

Your challenge: to recite the alphabet

Unsurprisingly, your challenge is to be able to recite the alphabet in French. Go at your own pace: for some, the best method is to recite the whole alphabet several times, while others learn best by tackling five letters at a time. 

Once you feel you’ve mastered the French alphabet, try spelling a few words of your choice. You’ll see that reciting in the same order and spelling are two completely different things.

As an added bonus, I strongly suggest that you learn how to spell your first and last names; these are probably the words you’ll be spelling most often.

Don’t miss a thing!

I publish one new challenge every ten days and at the end of October, I’ll be publishing a free ebook on the twenty most commonly used verbs in French! If you don’t want to miss a thing, subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on Facebook or Tumblr.