The purpose of the trema is to tell you that the ‘e’ should be pronounced as a standalone sound, rather than combining with another letter to form a different sound. The pronunciation is the same as with those two, sounding like the ‘e’ in the English word ‘get’. The trema, just like the circumflex and the grave accent, tells you that the letter ‘e’ must be pronounced. The pronunciation of the circumflex is the same as with the grave accent – it can be compared to the ‘e’ sound in the English word ‘get’. The circumflex in French, just like the grave accent, tells you that the ‘e’ must be pronounced – it is not silent.
The pronunciation is like in the English word ‘get’. For example, in the French word ‘frère’, the first ‘e’ has the grave accent, which means it must be pronounced. The ‘e’ with the grave accent is an indication that you must pronounce the ‘e’ – it’s not silent. This one is probably a less common letter from the French alphabet than the one above but still, you’ll see it frequently when reading in French.
REASONS FOR ACCENT GRAVE IN FRENCH HOW TO
The way I was taught how to say it was to say the sound ‘é’ like in the English word ‘get’ and while smiling. The French ‘e’ is one sound only and it doesn’t have the ‘ee’ at the end that English speakers often enunciate. The ‘ay’ sound in those English words is made up of two sounds – there’s kind of like an ‘ee’ sound at the end of it and your tongue and jaw move to make it. The acute accent in French changes the pronunciation of the ‘e’.Įnglish speakers often pronounce this sound like the ‘ay’ in the English words ‘say’, ‘hay’ or ‘bay’. You’re most likely to see it when reading and writing in the past tense in French because it can be found at the end of regular past tense verb forms (for example ‘J’ai joué’ – I played, ‘Je suis allé’ – I went, and so on). This one will probably come up the most out of the four types of accent marks that can accompany the letter ‘e’ in French. The letter ‘e’ can be accompanied by the acute accent, the grave accent, the circumflex and the trema. There are four different versions of it and we’re going to look at each one separately. The most common French letter that you will encounter and that is accompanied by an accent mark is the letter ‘e’. This will hopefully make things easier for you to understand.Īccent marks over ‘e’ in the French alphabet So, for example, we will look at the different types of accent marks that can go above the letter ‘e’, and then we’ll move on to other letters.
Rather than explaining when to use the trema, for example, I’m going to group this article by letter, and then explain each configuration of that letter with the different accent marks that can accompany it. That’s the two dots you will find over the letters: ‘e’, ‘i’ and ‘u’. That’s the little ‘hook’ attached to the letter ‘c’. That’s the little triangle-shaped accent mark that can be found over the letters: ‘a’, ‘e’, ‘i’, ‘o’ and ‘u’. The circumflex (l’accent circonflexe) – â, ê, î, ô, û You will find it over the letters: ‘a’, ‘e’ and ‘u’. That’s the stroke that goes down towards the right. The grave accent (l’accent grave) – à, è, ù That’s the stroke that goes upwards to the right. I will then go into the detail of each one of the types of accent marks below. Each of them has a name, so let’s start with that. The French alphabet has five different types of accent marks that you will find above vowels. The 5 French accent marks in the French alphabet So, here’s my ultimate guide to the French alphabet and specifically the French accent marks. This will allow you to practise saying everything you’re learning out loud, which is something I definitely recommend you do, even if you’re a complete beginner. When you’re starting to learn French, you may be slightly confused by all the accented letters that exist in French.īefore you move on to learning some basic French greetings or learning about French tenses, make sure you familiarise yourself with the French alphabet. Decemby Agnieszka Murdoch (updated 52 days ago)
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