We can also find the diaeresis on the letter E in the first name “ Joël” or in the holiday: “ Noël” (Christmas). Without the diaeresis we would it pronounce “Naif” like NEF.Īlso in the word “ héroïque” (heroic), it is not pronounced like héroique. What the French call “ le tréma”, and the Germans call the “Umlaut”.įor example in the word “ Naïf” (naïve). This is because the origin of the circumflex accent was an S which has been lost in modern French.įor example the word “fête”: fest, feast, fiesta, festa. Sometimes there are words that you can understand if you speak English, German, Italian, Spanish… i.e. It can also be found on O like in “ un hôte” (a host) or “la Côte d’Azur” (the French Riviera) The circumflex which can be found on E like in the words “ la fête” (the party) or “la forêt” (the forest). You will also find it on the preposition “ à” like for example: “ il habite à Nice” (he lives in Nice). It can also be on U like in the word “ où” (where), which is different to the word “ ou” (or). The grave accent, which can also be found on E: like in “ je préfère” (I prefer). The acute accent, we find on E and exclusively on E, like in “ poupée” (doll). Next, amongst the other particularities of the French alphabet, there are 3 accents.

We use the cedilla on the letter C before three vowels:Ĭ + A : to make the SA sound like in FrançaisĬ + O: to make the SO sound like in Leçon (lesson)Ĭ + U: to make the SU sound like in Reçu (receipt)

The cedilla is important for the pronunciation. Today, in this new lesson, we will look at the accents: acute, grave, circumflex, but also c cedilla, the diaeresis, the Œ … In a previous lesson, Priscilla, who is responsible for teaching and is also a teacher at the language school alpha.b in Nice, explained to you how to spell out a word in French.

How make an accent grave in french