French Pronunciation Practice Lesson 2 (with a REAL French speaker)

1. [j] = i.
Our first spelling is simply the letter “i” before a vowel or a nasal vowel:

• un avion = a plane,
• un chien = a dog.
• Une action = an action.

The “t” sounds like an “s” in that case, and all the words in -tion fit in there, with a [j] sound: une affirmation, une construction, une nation…

2. [j] = y
The second spelling is the simple letter “y”.

In borrowed words, it’s easy:

• le boycott = boycott
• le yoga = yoga

There’s a little trick for more purely French words. The letter “y” before a vowel still adds a “ye” sound, but there’s something else. Let’s see if you can notice the common link between these four examples:

• Le voyage = a trip, a travel,
• Payer = to pay,
• Le croyant = the believer,
• Le crayon = the pencil.

The “y” is actually a double “i” because in French, the letter “i” after a vowel often changes its sound.

• “Ai” = “eh”
• “Oi” = “wah”

In our four examples, the letter “y” changes the vowel before and makes the “ye” sound as in “avion” or “chien”: “voyage” is “voi” and “iage”, payer is “pai” and “ier”, etc.

• Le voyage = “le voi + iage”
• Payer = “pai + ier”
• Le croyant = “croi + iant”
• Le crayon = “crai + ion”

If you had only an “i”, it would sound like “voiage” [vo + iage] or “craion” [cra + ion] and that’s not what we want here.

Your turn now: How would you pronounce this sentence?
Il va essayer. = He’s going to try.
It’s /essai + ier/

Let’s see the next examples:

• Voir = to see.
  Vous voyez = You see. /voi + iez/
  Elle voit = She sees. /voi/
• Payer = to pay.
  This one can be confusing since it has two correct pronunciations and writings:
  1) Elle paie = She pays. /pai/
  2) Elle paye = She pays. /pai + ie/

3. [j] = il

At the end of some French words, you can find “i-l” after a vowel. This can be confusing for students. After all, it looks like it should sound like “île”, but no! It’s actually a “ye” sound.

– ail as in:
au travail = at work,
l’ail = garlic

– eil as in:
au soleil = under the sun,
le soleil = the sun.

– euil, as in:
un écureuil = a squirrel.
un fauteuil = an elegant chair
(different spelling, but same sound, in: un œil = an eye.)

Click here to learn more:
How to pronounce the “euil” sound in French

4. [j] = ill
This group of letters is quite weird, but it crops up in many French words.

On the one hand, it’s a way to write the “ye” sound:
La veille (= “la vè[j]” ) = the day before,
Ils travaillent dur. = They’re working hard.

After a consonant, “i l l” sounds like “ille.”
La fille = the girl,
Le billard = snooker, pool.

But there are famous exceptions, of course! Sometimes, it can sound like “IL.”
la ville = the city,
mille = a thousand,
un milliard = a billion,
Denis Villeneuve (the director of Dune)

Click here to learn more:

• Denis Villeneuve
• Dune (film, 2021)

Most times, the double “l” simply sounds like an “l” sound.

• la folle = the crazy one,
• Damien Chazelle, the director of La La Land.
• Belle = beautiful, pretty.

Click here to learn more:

• Damien Chazelle
• La La Land (film, 2016)
• La Belle et la Bête (film, 1991)
• Belle – Notre Dame De Paris – a song.
• Belle (chanson) performed Patrick Fiori, Daniel Lavoie, and Garou from the musical Notre-Dame de Paris.

I understand how confusing it is, but there is an answer. Like a large portion of French language weirdness, it comes from Latin.

• La fille comes from filia. And “Ilia” became “ille” ([ye]).
• La ville comes from villa [“l”] without an “i.” The sound became “ile”.

It’s actually two different paths, even though they ended up with the same spelling.

The good news is that most words with “i l l” have a “ye” sound.
There are only a few exceptions! Mille and ville are the main ones.

The other exceptions are:

1. Composite words:
   – Des milliers = thousands,
   – Un million = a million,
   – Un milliard = a billion,
   – Le village = a village,
   – La villa = a villa.

2. Names:
– Gilles (male)
– Lille (Northern French city)
– Mille Gilles vivent dans la ville de Lille. = A thousand Gilles live in the city of Lille.

The extra mile: “i tréma”

The French ï (= “i tréma”) is also a “double i”. But it’s specifically separate from the rest of the word. For comparison:
Aie = “to have” in subjunctive tense → sounds like “eh” (“a + i” sound like this in French)
Aïe = “ouch” → sounds like “ail” = “ah” + [j] sound

Payer = “to pay” → sounds like “peh” + “yeah” (“a + i” sound like “eh”)
Païen = pagan → sounds like “pah” + [j] sound + “in” nasal sound

In both words, the ï separate “a” and “i”, so it doesn’t make “ai” sound like “eh.”