French Alphabet

You can form almost every sound in the French alphabet using the English sounds that you already know.

The French alphabet is the same as the English one but not all letters are pronounced the same way, and some letters can have accents, which change the way they are pronounced.

Resources for further reading:

Below is an audio guide to the pronunciation of the letters of the French alphabet.

How to pronounce the French alphabet

Note that the letters k and w are not commonly used except in regional or loan words. For example; kilogramme, kilomètre

A

aah (like opening your mouth for the dentist)

B

beh

C

say

D

day

E

euh

F

eff

G

jay (like J in English)

H

ash

I

ee

J

jee (similar to G in English)

K

kah

L

el

M

em

N

en

O

oh

P

pay

Q

coo

R

err

S

es

T

tay

U

oo

V

vay

W

dooble vay

X

eex

Y

ee-grayk

Z

zed

The French Riviera, Nice

French alphabet pronunciation practice

Practice Your Pronunciation With Rocket Record

Rocket Record lets you perfect your French pronunciation. Just listen to the native speaker audio and then use the microphone icon to record yourself. Once you’re done, you’ll get a score out of 100 on your pronunciation and can listen to your own audio playback. (Use a headset mic for best results.) Problems? Click here!

ananas

pineapple

barre

bar / rod

carte

map

donner

to give

petite

small (fem.)

famille

family

glace

ice / ice cream

hôpital

hospital

image

image

je

I

kilo

kilogram

lunettes

glasses

mère

mother

non

no

odeur

smell

porter

to wear / to carry

qui

who

rouge

red

samedi

Saturday

tu

you

vue

view

vous

you

WC

toilet

Sexe

Sex

les yeux

the eyes

zèbre

zebra

That's probably enough pronunciation practice for now! With these French lessons, remember the more you listen, the more you'll be able to recognize words as they're spoken.

I would recommend learning more about French accents and French numbers next.

À bientôt !

Marie-Claire Rivière and the Rocket French Team

Make It Stick With Rocket Reinforcement

Reinforce your learning from this lesson with the Rocket Reinforcement activities! These activities are scientifically designed to improve your knowledge and retention of French.