Pronunciation

How to pronounce the famous “ R ” letter? Why French-speaking people write “ il y a ” but say “ y'a ” ? These aids provide you with examples to listen and tips to better understand French-speaking people and improve your pronunciation.

Pronunciation / The sound [ø] - "eu“

A1 Breakthrough

What do you think of French vowels? Are they: awful, normal, rather / really beautiful? You don't know?

Is the difference between:

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deux heures and

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douze heures

impossible, difficult, easy to hear?

Is the difference between:

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deux heures and

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douze heures

impossible, difficult, easy to pronounce?

In your opinion, which is the most beautiful vowel?
In your opinion, which vowel is the most awful?

Have you ever observed a French-speaker's lips as they speak? The [ø] is a typical French vowel: you pronounce it by pursing your lips, as if you were blowing the candles out on a birthday cake. Many French sounds are pronounced at the front of the mouth, lips rounded and pursed, and your tongue curled.

The sounds

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[y] « tu »,

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[ø] « deux »,

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[œ] "neuf", are pronounced at the front of the mouth.

Some people, while learning French, find that it seems to be pronounced as if you were blowing kisses.
The sound [ø] is almost always written "eu".

You can hear it in the onomatopoeia

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"euh…", which indicates that you are hesitating or trying to think of a word.

You can practise pronouncing the [ø] by sounding out the consonants that are pronounced using the same area of the mouth:

Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version. du - dø	Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version. pu - pø	Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version. fu - fø	Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version. ku - kø	Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version. mu - mø
Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version. fɛ - fø	Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version. dɛ - dø	Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version. kɛ - kø	Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version. mɛ - mø	Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version. pɛ - pø

Start practicing!
You can imitate the examples:
- when repeating the example, try saying it fast and slow, yelling and whispering it.
- try repeating in time with the example, as precisely as possible.

Practical exercises

Pronunciation: the sound [ø] - “eu”

A1

5 exercises

Listen • Pronunciation (sounds / vowels - i, u, o...)