French Accent Marks: The Final Information

What are French accent marks, and why do they matter? The phrases café and résumé are initially French, and in English we frequently write these phrases with out the accents. In French, nevertheless, the accent marks usually are not non-obligatory.

Getting your accents proper is the distinction between being a pêcheur (fisherman) and a pécheur (sinner). Which one would you moderately have in your résumé?

So let’s take a look at the various kinds of French accent marks and the way they’re used. We’ll cowl all of the various kinds of accent marks, how they’re pronounced (in the event that they’re pronounced in any respect), and the impact they’ve on a phrase’s grammar and/or which means.

We’ll additionally take a look at loads of examples of French phrases with accents which ought to assist make issues clear. Plus, I’ll train you learn how to kind them on a PC and Mac (with keyboard shortcuts!).

French Accent Mark Checklist: The 5 French Diacritics

French accent marks are comprised of 5 totally different diacritics.

In no explicit order, they’re:

• ç – the cedilla (la cédille)
• é – the acute accent (l’accent aigu)
• â/ê/î/ô/û – the circumflex (l’accent circonflexe)
• à/è/ì/ò/ù – the grave accent (l’accent grave)
• ë/ï/ü – the trema (l’accent tréma)

These accent marks serve a number of totally different functions within the language. Generally they have an effect on pronunciation, typically they don’t. Generally they’ll fully change the which means of a phrase.

So how do you learn, write, or pronounce these letters? What do the accent marks imply? And how will you keep in mind all the French accent marks, guidelines, and pronunciation? Let me stroll you thru them.

(By the best way, if you happen to’re nonetheless battling the French alphabet, we’ve got a useful video for you!)

The Cedilla (La Cédille) Accent Mark in French

The cedilla accent mark in French seems like a bit squiggle beneath the letter “c”: “ç”. This accent mark solely goes with the letter “c” – it’s not discovered below some other letter.

It’s a easy image to know: a ç (c with a cedilla) is pronounced like an “s”.

You’ll solely ever see a “ç” earlier than an “a”, “o”, or “u”. (Do not forget that “c” earlier than an “e” or “i” is pronounced like an “s” anyway, so including a cedilla wouldn’t change something.)

Two frequent phrases that comprise cedillas are garçon (“boy”, or “waiter” in a restaurant) and français (French!). You may as well sometimes see it in English in loanwords like façade.

The Acute (L’Accent Aigu) Accent Mark in French

The acute accent mark in French is just ever discovered above an “e”, as in “é”. Its function is to alter the pronunciation of the vowel.

An unaccented “e” may be pronounced a number of alternative ways, however once you see “é”, there’s no ambiguity. An é (e with an acute accent) is all the time pronounced the identical approach.

So what approach is that? Many books and web sites will let you know that “é” is pronounced just like the English “ay”, as in “say” or “approach”.

There’s only one drawback with this piece of recommendation: it’s incorrect. Positive, the “ay” sound is shut to the French “é” sound, however it’s not fairly the identical. In case you pronounce “é” like an “ay”, will probably be a lifeless giveaway that your native language is English.

To know how “é” is pronounced, let’s study the English “ay” sound a bit nearer.

Strive saying “say” or “approach” very slowly, drawing out the vowel on the finish. Discover that as you say “aaaaaay”, your tongue strikes.It is because “ay” is secretly not one however two vowels stated in fast succession. (Linguists name such double vowels “diphthongs”.)

The French “é” is the first of the 2 vowel sounds that make up the English “ay” diphthong. To pronounce “é” precisely, place your tongue such as you’re about to say “ay”, however when you begin making noise, don’t transfer your tongue or lips. Hold them regular for your complete period of the sound.

As native English audio system, we frequently discover it arduous to shake the behavior of “doubling up” this sound and announcing it like an “ay” – however with follow, you must keep in mind.

(In case you’re conversant in the Worldwide Phonetic Alphabet, word that the IPA for the “é” sound is /e/. Additionally word that the French “é” sound is identical because the Spanish “e” sound, which I defined intimately in level #2 of this text. Even if you happen to don’t converse Spanish, you might discover that rationalization useful in your French).

Additionally, if you need some recommendations on learn how to keep away from sounding like an apparent foreigner, Benny has some recommendation for you in considered one of our podcasts!

The Grave (L’Accent Grave) Accent Mark in French

The grave accent mark in French may be discovered above an “a”, an “e”, or a “u” (à/è/ù). It does just a few various things.

Firstly, it’s used above an “a” or “u” to differentiate phrases which have the identical pronunciation however totally different meanings:

a vs à:

• a is the third-person singular type of avoir (“to have”)
• à is a preposition that may imply “at”, “to”, or “in”

ça vs çà

• ça is a pronoun which means “it” or “that”
• çà is an interjection that’s arduous to translate. It may categorical fear or shock (like saying “uh-oh!”) or it may be mere verbal filler, like saying “hey” or “effectively”.

la vs là

• la is the female type of the phrase “the” – or in different contexts it might imply “her”.
• là means “there” or “that

ou vs où:

• ou means “or”
• où means “the place”. Be aware that that is the one phrase in your complete French language the place you’ll discover a grave accent above the letter “u”!

You may as well discover a grave accent in déjà (“already”) and deçà (“nearer than”), though “déja” and “deça” with out the accent aren’t phrases.

Above an “a” or a “u”, a grave accent doesn’t change the pronunciation. Above an “e”, nevertheless, it tells you that the vowel is pronounced “eh”, just like the “e” in “get” (IPA /ɛ/).

There are some ways to pronounce an unaccented “e” in French. The grave accent makes it clear that you simply should say /ɛ/, when in any other case the “e” is perhaps a unique sound, or silent.

The Circumflex (L’Accent Circonflexe) Accent Mark in French

The circumflex, which seems like a bit pointy hat, may be discovered as an accent mark above all 5 vowels in French: â, ê, î, ô, or û. I’ll spend extra time on the principles of this accent mark, since its utilization is considerably difficult.

First, it tells you learn how to pronounce “a”, “e”, and “o”:

• “â” is pronounced roughly like an English “ah” as in an American “sizzling” or British “tub”.
• “ê” is pronounced like an English “eh” as in “get” – the identical as if it was “è” with a grave accent.
• “ô” is pronounced roughly like an English “oh” as in “boat” or “shut”. It’s the identical sound discovered within the French phrase au.

When positioned over an “i” or “u”, a circumflex doesn’t change the pronunciation, besides within the mixture “eû”. Jeûne (“quick” as in a dietary quick) is pronounced otherwise from jeune (“younger”).

So why hassle writing a circumflex when it doesn’t have an effect on pronunciation? The reply takes us again lots of of years.

Take the phrase forêt, which implies “forest”. As you may guess, the English and French phrases share a typical root. As time went on, French folks stopped announcing the “s”, however they continued to put in writing it – it was a silent letter, of which English has many.

Ultimately, it was determined to alter the spelling of the phrase to take away the superfluous “s”. However for no matter cause, the French intelligentsia didn’t wish to erase all hint that this “s” had ever existed – so it was determined so as to add a circumflex to the “e” as a substitute. The circumflex is an etymological tombstone – it tells you “hey, there was once an additional letter right here!”

Examine these French phrases to their English cognates:

• ancêtre – “ancestor”
• août – “August”
• côte – “coast”
• forêt – “forest”
• hôtel – “hostel”
• hôpital – “hospital”
• pâté – “paste”
• rôtir – “to roast”

Mostly, a circumflex denotes a lacking “s”, however it’s typically used for different letters. For instance, âge (age) and bâiller (to yawn) have been as soon as spelt aage and baailler.

The circumflex can also be useful for distinguishing sure pairs of identically-pronounced phrases:

sur vs. sûr:
– sur is a preposition which means “on”, or an adjective which means “bitter”.
– sûr means “positive” or “sure”. Be aware that the circumflex continues to be current in inflected varieties like the female sûre, or in derived phrases like sûreté (safety).

du vs. dû:
  – du means “of the” – it is a contraction of de (of) and le (masculine type of “the”).
   – dû is the previous participle of devoir – “to need to”. Not like sûr, the circumflex will not be saved within the inflected varieties: so it is dû within the masculine singular however due, dus, and dues within the different three varieties.

mur vs. mûr:
– un mur is “a wall”.
– mûr means “ripe” or “mature”, in addition to being a slang time period for “drunk”. The circumflex is preserved within the inflected varieties (mûre, mûrs, mûres), and in associated phrases like mûrir (to ripen.)

This may sound like rather a lot, however a bit follow every day will assist! We interviewed Will, a fellow French learner, about his language journey and recommendation in our podcast:

The Trema (L’Accent Tréma) in French

Lastly, we’ve got the French trema accent mark: two little dots above a letter. It may be discovered above an “e”, “i”, or “u”: ë, ï, ü.

The trema can also be typically referred to as a “diaeresis” or “umlaut”, though technically it’s not an umlaut. The umlaut and diaeresis are unrelated issues that developed in other places and solely look the identical by coincidence – however that doesn’t matter right here.

You might recognise the trema from the names Zoë and Chloë. Right here, the trema tells you that the “o” and “e” are pronounced individually – so that they rhyme with “snowy”, not “toe”.

(If solely David Jones had taken the stage title “Boë” as a substitute of “Bowie”, all of the confusion about its pronunciation may have been averted).

Some English model guides counsel you employ the trema (often known as a “diaeresis”, pronounced “die-heiresses”) for a number of different phrases, like reëlect or coöperate. Nonetheless, in follow virtually no-one does this.

In French, the trema works the identical approach, and it’s way more frequent than in English. It’s written over the second of two vowels to let you know that they should be pronounced individually, whereas with out the accent they may mix into a very totally different sound:

• coïncidence (coincidence)
• Jamaïque (Jamaica)
• Noël (Christmas)

That is by far the commonest use of the trema.

There a complicated exception when you think about adjectives which finish in a “gu” – like our pal aigu (acute), as in l’accent aigu.

Why we wish to use aigu with a female noun, like douleur (ache)? Usually we’d add a silent “e”. The issue is that “gue” in French is pronounced as “g”, with a silent “e” and “u” (You may see the identical rule in English phrases like “fugue” or “obscure”).

To get round this drawback, French makes use of a trema: the female type of aigu is aigüe, as in douleur aigüe. Because the French Spelling Reform of 1990, the trema is formally alleged to go on the “u”, though you’ll usually nonetheless see folks writing aiguë.

So now we’ve wrapped up what every French accent mark does, and subsequent we’ll discuss learn how to kind them on a PC and Mac. However first, I can’t assist however point out this video Benny did about learn how to overcome some French challenges–together with writing and talking. Test it out!

How one can Kind French Accents

I’m positive you’ll wish to know learn how to kind French accent marks. French computer systems typically use the AZERTY keyboard format, which has some main variations from our acquainted QWERTY – together with some particular keys for typing accents.

Study to kind in a brand new format if you happen to’re feeling hardcore. For everybody else, there are pretty handy methods to kind accents in French (or some other language) on QWERTY. Right here’s how you are able to do it on a PC or a Mac:

How one can Kind French Accents On a PC

The next shortcuts ought to work to kind French accent marks on a PC keyboard:

• To kind “ç” or “Ç”, press Ctrl + ,, then “c” or “C”.
• To kind “é” or “E”, press Ctrl + ’, then “e” or “E”.
• To kind a vowel with a circumflex press Ctrl + Shift + ^, then the vowel.
• To kind a vowel with a grave accent press Ctrl + `, then the vowel.
• To kind a vowel with a trema press Ctrl + `, then the vowel.

If that doesn’t work, you may attempt inputting the character code immediately.

Every accented character may be entered with a four-digit code. Merely press the “alt” key, then enter the French accent codes beneath. (Be aware: you’ll have to enter them with the quantity pad on the right-hand aspect of your keyboard, not the quantity keys above the letters.)

How one can Kind French Accents On a Mac

Typically, you may kind French accent marks on a Mac as “particular characters” through the use of the Choice/Alt key. That’s the one labelled “⌥”, between “ctrl” and “cmd”. Right here’s what it’s good to know for French:

So as to add a letter with a diacritic, press the suitable key mixture, then press the important thing for the letter you need the diacritic to belong to. For instance, to kind “ì”, press “alt” + “`” collectively, then launch them and press “i”.

The exception is the cedilla – urgent “alt” + “c” inputs a “ç” immediately, with out the necessity to press “c” once more afterwards.

Relying in your keyboard and system settings, you may additionally be capable to kind particular characters by holding down an everyday letter key. For instance, after I maintain down “e” on my Mac for a second or so:

Now to get the accented “é”, I simply press “2”.

Figuring out French will make a visit to the gorgeous south of France much more spectacular!

French Accent Marks – Have Your Say

That covers it! As you may see, the principles for accents in French are a bit difficult, however they’re not unattainable. Do not forget that they don’t all the time have an effect on pronunciation: so in case your focus is talking, not each accent rule must be studied in nice element simply but.

And if you happen to’re eager about persevering with, I extremely suggest FrenchPod101 and Story Studying French. They make studying French enjoyable and simple and will provide you with loads of alternatives to follow your accent marks!

Authentic article by George Julian, up to date by the Fluent in 3 Months staff on June 21, 2024.

George Julian

Content material Author, Fluent in 3 Months

George is a polyglot, linguistics nerd and journey fanatic from the U.Ok. He speaks 4 languages and has dabbled in one other 5, and has been to greater than forty international locations. He at present lives in London.

Speaks: English, French, Spanish, German, Vietnamese, Portuguese

View all posts by George Julian