Today we’re looking at how to use and pronounce les Champs-Élysées, a major avenue in Paris that’s filled with upscale shopping boutiques and restaurants, and links Place de la Concorde to Arc de Triomphe.
les Champs-Élysées
Word origin
The French name Champs-Élysées comes from Elysian Fields, a place in Greek mythology for dead heros.
Pronunciation
The pronunciation of Champs-Élysées is [ʃɑ̃z_elize]. The final PS on champs (field) is silent and the AM is nasal. The final S on champs sounds like a Z due to the liaison pronunciation rule, which causes words to conntect. The upward slanting acute accent over the é causes the E to be pronounced “ay” is in play.
Example sentences
For this first sentence, la place Charles-de-Gaulle is also known as la Place de l’Étoile. This is the location of l’Arc de triomphe.
Les Champs-Élysees relient la place de la Concorde à la place Charles-de-Gaulle.
The Champs-Élysées links place de la Concorde and place Charles-de-Gaulle.
For this second sentence, Paris is divided into districts or neighborhoods called arrondissement in French.
L’avenue des Champs-Élysées est située dans le huitième arrondissement de Paris.
The Champs-Élysées is in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.
This final sentence makes reference to Les Champs-Élysees, a hit French song release din 1969 by Joe Dassin.
Les Champs-Élysees est une de mes chansons françaises préférées.
Les Champs-Élysees is one of my favorite French songs.
Related lessons
Word of the Day lessons | Lessons by David Issokson
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