Pronunciation / Linking consonant to vowel

In French, when we speak, we do not separate all the words: we group the words, we link them up. We pronounce a group of words as if we were pronouncing a very long word: we call this a rhythmic group. It often corresponds to one idea.

How can we link words up in a sentence or in a group of words? We take the last pronounced consonant sound of a word and add it to to the first sound of the next word, which starts with a vowel. This is called linking: the consonant sound of a word is associated with the vowel sound of the next word.

For example, in the sentence “elle habite en ville”, there are two possible linkings:

• “elle_habite”: “elle” ends with a consonant sound (/ɛl/) and “habite” starts with a vowel sound (/a bit/),
• “habite_en”: “habite” ends with a consonant sound (/a bit/) and “en” is a vowel sound (/ɑ̃/).

Be careful, there can’t be any linking in “en ville” because “en” is a vowel sound (/ɑ̃/) and “ville” starts with a consonant sound (/vil/).

Other examples:

Audio file play stop mute max volume     repeat   Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version.	Il est un vrai casse-tête	« Il est » is pronounced /i lɛ/.
Audio file play stop mute max volume     repeat   Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version.	pour avancer	is pronounced /pu Ra vɑ̃ se/.

Within a group, the final “e ” of the first word is silent if the second word starts with a vowel. The last pronounced consonant sound is associated with the vowel with which the word starts.

 

Audio file play stop mute max volume     repeat   Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version.	Votre_intérieur	is pronounced /vɔ tRɛ̃ te RjœR/.
Audio file play stop mute max volume     repeat   Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version.	Facile_et évident	is pronounced /fa si le e vi dɑ̃/.
Audio file play stop mute max volume     repeat   Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version.	Face_au rangement	« Face au » is pronounced /fa so/.
Audio file play stop mute max volume     repeat   Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version.	Faire_ici	is pronounced /fɛ Ri si/.