1.7 Synthesis - VerbaBros.

🎓 Synthesis

The French alphabet uses the same 26 letters as the English alphabet. The big difference lies in the pronunciation of each letter’s name.

⚠️ Scroll left to read the following tables.

Letter	Pronunciation (Name of the Letter)	Approximate Phonetic Equivalent	Notes for English Speakers
A	$a$	(like the ‘a’ in ‘father’)	Similar to English.
B	$bé$	(bay)	Similar to English.
C	$cé$	(say)	Similar to English.
D	$dé$	(day)	Similar to English.
E	$euh$	(like the ‘u’ in ‘up’, but shorter and looser)	Very Important: This is the most common sound in French. It is not the English ‘ee’ sound.
F	$èf$	(eff)	Similar to English.
G	$jé$	(zhey)	Pronounced like the ‘s’ in ‘measure’ + ‘ay’. Not like the ‘g’ in ‘go’.
H	$ach$	(ash)	The ‘H’ is often silent at the beginning of a word.
I	$i$	(ee, as in ‘see’)	Identical to the English ‘ee’. Not the English ‘eye’.
J	$ji$	(zhee)	Pronounced like the ‘s’ in ‘measure’ + ‘ee’. Not the ‘j’ in ‘jump’.
K	$ka$	(kah)	Similar to English.
L	$èl$	(ell)	Similar to English.
M	$èm$	(em)	Similar to English.
N	$èn$	(en)	Similar to English.
O	$o$	(oh)	Similar to English.
P	$pé$	(pay)	Similar to English.
Q	$ku$	(koo)	Careful: This uses the specific French $u$ vowel sound.
R	$èr$	(air)	The ‘R’ is gargled or rolled (guttural) in the throat. Not like the English ‘r’.
S	$ès$	(ess)	Similar to English.
T	$té$	(tay)	Similar to English.
U	$u$	(like ‘ew’ but with rounded lips)	The most difficult sound: Make the sound ‘ee’ (like the French $i$ ), but round your lips as if whistling.
V	$vé$	(vay)	Similar to English.
W	$doublé vé$	(doob-luh vay)	Literally “double V”.
X	$iks$	(eeks)	Similar to English.
Y	$i grèk$	(ee grek)	Literally “Greek i”.
Z	$zèd$	(zed)	Not the American ‘zee’.

💡 Pronunciation Pitfalls for English Speakers

Letter	Typical English Mistake	Correct French Pronunciation
E	Pronouncing ‘ee’ (like $i$ )	$euh$ (short, neutral sound)
G	Pronouncing ‘djee’ (like $j$ )	$jé$ (like ‘zhey’)
H	Pronouncing ‘aitch’	$ach$ (no ‘h’ sound at the beginning)
I	Pronouncing ‘eye’	$i$ (like ‘ee’)
J	Pronouncing ‘dzhei’	$ji$ (like ‘zhee’)
R	Pronouncing the classic English ‘r’	$èr$ (guttural, scraped sound)
U	Pronouncing ‘yoo’ (like $ou$ )	$u$ (rounded, tight sound)
Z	Pronouncing ‘zee’	$zèd$