Knowing the French alphabet is essential for living in France. Having a grasp of the alphabet will help you pronounce and spell words correclty. In addition to the pronunciation of each individual letter, this post offers audio practice for how to spell both difficult words and common names.
French Alphabet pronunciation
As you listen to the French alphabet, you’ll find that some letters sound almost identical to those in English, like the letter F. The most confusing pair is J and G because their pronunciations are reversed in French compared to English.
Listen to the entire alphabet.
Use the following table to listen to the pronunciation of individual letters (if using phone view table in landscape).
Letter | Symbole | Sounds |
A | [a] | |
B | [be] | |
C | [se] | |
D | [de] | |
E | [ə] | |
F | [ɛf] | |
G | [ʒe] | |
H | [aʃ] | |
I | [i] | |
J | [ʒi] | |
K | [kɑ] | |
L | [ɛl] | |
M | [ɛm] | |
N | [ɛn] | |
O | [o] | |
P | [pe] | |
Q | [ky] | |
R | [ɛʀ]] | |
S | [ɛs] | |
T | [te] | |
U | [y] | |
V | [ve] | |
W | [dubləve] | |
X | [iks] | |
Y | [igʀɛk] | |
Z | [zɛd] |
French alphabet practice: Difficult words
Here is a list of some of the hardest French words to pronounce and how to spell them.
Un écureuil – squirrel
E-C-U-R-E-U-I-L
Une quincaillerie – hardware store
Q-U-I-N-C-A-I-L-L-E-R-I-E
Un yaourt – yogurt
Y-A-O-U-R-T
Trois – three
T-R-O-I-S
Une serrurerie – locksmithing
S-E-R-R-U-R-E-R-I-E
Reims – city in the region of La Marne
R-E-I-M-S
Une heure – hour
H-E-U-R-E
Une fourrure – fur
F-O-U-R-R-U-R-E
Caoutchouc – rubber
C-A-O-U-T-C-H-O-U-C
Practice spelling common names
Now that you’ve gone through the entire French alphabet , here are the spellings for some common girl and boy names in the United States and in France.
American Girl Names in French
Olivia
O-L-I-V-I-A
Emma
E-M-M-A
Charlotte
C-H-A-R-L-O-T-T-E
Amelia
A-M-E-L-I-A
Ava
A-V-A
American Boy Names in French
James
J-A-M-E-S
Robert
R-O-B-E-R-T
John
J-O-H-N
David
D-A-V-I-D
Popular French Girl Names and Spelling
Jade
J-A-D-E
Louise
L-O-U-I-S-E
Laura
L-A-U-R-A
Alice
A-L-I-C-E
Ambre
A-M-B-R-E
Popular French Boy Names and Spelling
Léo
L-E-O
Gabriel
G-A-B-R-I-E-L
Raphaël
R-A-P-H-A-Ë-L
Louis
L-O-U-I-S
Jules
J-U-L-E-S
Now give it a try with your own name! You’ll be spelling like the French in no time.
French alphabet – conclusion
Congratulations! You now know the French alphabet! Now check out our posts covering the French reading rules (including nasal sounds) and French accent marks. We also suggest Frenchtoday.com’s Secrets Of French Pronunciation course.