Sounds and spelling · GCSE French

Vowel sounds

ou sounds like the "oo" in food: vous, rouge, jour. u is tighter, with rounded lips: tu, rue, vu. The difference matters: vous (you) and vu (seen).
oi sounds like "wa": moi, trois, voiture. au and eau sound like "oh": chaud, beau, gâteau.
é, -er and -ez sound like "ay": été, manger, parlez. è and ê sound like the e in bed: mère, fête.
ai usually sounds like the e in bed (lait, français), but j'ai sounds like "jay". eu sounds like "uh" with rounded lips: deux, bleu, peu.

Before n or m, a vowel becomes nasal (said partly through the nose) and the n or m isn't fully said: an / en (dans, enfant, temps), on (bon, maison, nom), in / ain / ein (vin, pain, plein), un (lundi, brun).
If the n or m is followed by a vowel, or doubled, the sound isn't nasal: bonne, année, une, fine.

Most final consonants are silent: petit, grand, trois, vous. The -ent ending of ils/elles verbs is silent: ils parlent.
c, r, f and l are often said at the end (think of "careful"): sac, bonjour, neuf, avril.
h is always silent: l'hôtel, l'homme, heureux. ch sounds like "sh": chat, chocolat. qu sounds like k: qui, quatre.
ç always sounds like s: ça, garçon, français. c sounds like s before e or i (ce, cinéma) and like k before a, o or u (café, comme).
g before e or i, and j, sound like the s in "pleasure": manger, girafe, je, jour. gn sounds like the "ny" in canyon: montagne, gagner.
ille usually sounds like "ee-y": fille, famille (but ville, mille and tranquille say "eel"). The French r is made at the back of the throat.

Liaison: a silent final consonant is said when the next word starts with a vowel or silent h: vous_avez, les_enfants, un_homme. An s or x in liaison sounds like z.
There is never a liaison after et: et | il.
French gives each syllable nearly equal weight, with slightly more on the last one. Don't stress the first syllable as English does.
Endings can sound the same: parle, parles and parlent sound identical, while parlez and parler both end in "ay".

les voyelles nasales: nasal vowels: an, en, on, in, un
la liaison: saying a silent final consonant before a vowel
la cédille: cedilla: the mark under ç, which makes it sound like s
l'accent aigu: acute accent: é, which sounds like "ay"
l'accent grave: grave accent: è, which sounds like the e in bed
l'accent circonflexe: circumflex accent: ê, â, î, ô, û
le tréma: diaeresis: ë or ï, which means the vowel is said separately (Noël)
une lettre muette: a silent letter