Level A1-A2 (Beginner)
The French Word of the Day is août, the word for August in French. Today we’ll take a close look at how to pronounce it — and why it breaks the usual French reading rules. It’s trickier than it looks, but I’ll explain! This lesson includes:
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Pronunciation
Example sentences
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Pronunciation
In French, the word août is pronounced /ut/. This often causes confusion because it breaks a common French reading rule: when a word ends in a vowel followed by a consonant, the final consonant is usually silent. For example, petit (small) is pronounced [puh-tee], not [puh-teet].
Example sentences
Les Français partent en vacances en août.
The French go on vacation in August.
Le 15 août est l’Assomption. C’est un jour férié en France.
August 15 is Assumption Day. It’s a day off in France.
Juillet et août sont les mois d’été.
July and August are the summer months.
Souvent il fait très chaud au mois d’août en Europe.
The weather is often very hot during the month of August in Europe.
Word origin
The modern French word août comes from middle and old French aoust, which in turn comes Augustus in Latin. Both août and August in English are named after Augustus Caesar, founder of the Roman empire.
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