VOWELS

French vowels are here separated into single vowels (accented and unaccented), and vowel groups. The letter 'e' is treated in other section. Note that the vowels 'i' and 'u' can generally be pronounced with consonant sounds.

As French as croissants are the accents peppered over French vowels. The effects the acute, grave and circumflex have on pronunciation are given below. Of the remainder, some serve to distinguish otherwise identical words (For example: la vs là, and ou vs où), while others are merely garnish (For example: gîte, mûr). In addition, there is the dieresis which separates vowel sounds. For example, naïve is not pronounced 'nev', but as two separate syllables, na-ive.

LETTER	SOUND	AS IN	WORD	NOTES

a	a	sack	sac	generally
a	ah	ah	pas	before 's' and 'z'
â	ah	bah	gâteau
i	ee	meet	police
i	y	yet	bien	before a vowel
o	aw	saw	dome	generally
o	o	bone	clos	before s and z
ô	o	bone	cône
u	ew		lune
u	w		suis	before another vowel Between g and a vowel, u is silent
y	ee	meet	système	before a consonant

o (generally) - make with rounded half-open lips.
ô - like Scots 'oh': keep your lips tightly pursed.
u - hold your tongue in the position for 'ooh' and say 'ee'.
u (before a vowel) - like y as in 'yet', but with your lips in position to say 'ooh'.