The French alphabet uses the same 26 letters as English. The big difference is how the letters themselves are named. Knowing these names is useful when you need to spell something out loud, like your name or an address.

And here's the rest.

But knowing the letter names is just the first step. The real key to French pronunciation is understanding the sounds these letters make in words.

French pronunciation hinges on its vowel sounds. There are more of them than in English, and they are typically shorter and purer, without the gliding quality many English vowels have.

Many French consonants sound similar to their English counterparts, but there are a few key differences. It's also common for the final consonant of a word to be silent. For example, in trop (too much) and petit (small), the 'p' and 't' are not pronounced.

One of the most distinct features of French is its nasal vowels. These are created by passing air through both the mouth and the nose. You don't close off your mouth with your tongue or lips like you would for an 'n' or 'm' sound in English. The vowel sound itself becomes nasal.

This word uses the nasal sound 'en'. Notice how the 'n' isn't pronounced as a hard consonant. Other common nasal combinations include 'an', 'on', and 'in'.

Now for the famous French 'R'. It’s not rolled like in Spanish or pronounced at the front of the mouth like in English. The French 'R' is a throaty sound, produced at the back of the throat. It's similar to the sound you make when gargling, but much softer.

Spoken French flows smoothly because words are often linked together. This happens in two main ways: liaisons and elisions.

A liaison occurs when a word's normally silent final consonant is pronounced at the beginning of the next word if that word starts with a vowel or a silent 'h'. It connects the two words into a single, seamless sound.

An elision is when a vowel at the end of a short, common word (like le, la, je) is dropped when the next word begins with a vowel or silent 'h'. The two words are then joined with an apostrophe.

This avoids the awkward pause of two vowel sounds clashing. For example, le ami (the friend) becomes l'ami. Instead of saying "luh ah-mee," you say "lah-mee."

Let's review these core concepts.

Now, see if you can apply what you've learned.

Mastering these rules is the first step toward speaking French clearly and confidently.