In French, we speak in groups of words. We only take a breath at the end of an idea. The group of words is called rhythmic group or phonetic word. It includes three syllables on average.
Rhythm of French is very steady. Only one syllable is notable: the last one since it is longer and placed before a pause. We call it strong syllable.
Example:
|
intéresSANt (ti ti ti TA*) |
You can clap your hands while saying the syllable and clap louder on the strong syllable.
The accent mark (
é,
è,
à,
â, etc.) is not related to the length of the syllable.
Example:
*To represent this difference in length, the strong syllable is pronounced “
TA”, while other syllables are pronounced “
ti”, usually perceived as a shorter sound.