Updated on October 15, 2024
The French alphabet: Everything you need to know
When young French children discover the alphabet in a song, it is usually when they start learning how to read and write. But the situation and the final goal are quite different for adult beginners in French. The focus is much more on oral skills, since the purpose of learning the French alphabet is to be able to recognize and reproduce the basic sounds of the language. This article gives you an overview of the letters of the French alphabet, their unique sounds and their vital role when you study and use French in your everyday life.
The French alphabet is made of the same 26 lettres (letters) as the English alphabet, with the same six voyelles (vowels), including the particular case of the letter y, and 20 consonnes (consonants). In addition, there are two French ligatures: æ (made of the vowels a and e) and œ (made of the vowels o and e). You can find them in a few words like ex æquo (on a tie), et cætera (et cetera), sœur (sister) and cœur (heart).
All the letters of the alphabet can be written as minuscules (small letters) or majuscules (capital letters), though French is a lot less fond of the latter than English is. It’s also worth noting the slightly different look of the traditional French calligraphy, compared to the English one:
| French | English |
 |  |
Beyond the difference in font style, the main contrast between the French and the English alphabet is the pronunciation. Out of the 26 letters mentioned above, only six sound exactly the same way in French and in English, as we will see further below.
As we just saw, the French alphabet is pretty much made of the same letters as the English one, if we don’t consider the French accents and special characters. Plus, in our computer age, French people are more likely to use the English font style than the traditional French calligraphy when typing on their laptop or mobile. And yet, when it comes to pronunciation, knowing the French alphabet will often come in handy. Here’s why.
We don’t just mean for lessons or when learning the correct spelling of a new word. We also mean in your daily life. You may often need to use the French alphabet when spelling your name, your home address or your email address. You will also need to understand when a receptionist or an agent gives you a reference code made of a mix of numbers and letters. The examples and the situations are just endless.
If you know how to pronounce single French letters correctly, chances are you will find it easier to pronounce entire words without making a mistake. For instance, if you know that the letter i sounds like ee as in “cheese”, and not i as in “time”, then you will more easily know how to pronounce such words as merci (thank you), lundi (Monday) or prix (price). It will also help you make the distinction between close sounds, such as the tricky pair of ou and u. If you practice recognizing and saying the letter u correctly, then you will be able to distinguish between these pairs of words:
| -u sound | -ou sound |
| au-dessus (above) | au-dessous (underneath) |
| bûche (log) | bouche (mouth) |
| jus (juice) | joue (cheek) |
| nu (naked) | nous (we) |
| puce (flee) | pouce (thumb) |
| rue (street) | roue (wheel) |
Of course, certain difficult words to pronounce will demand more practice. But learning the sounds of all the letters of the alphabet is an essential way to learn speaking French.
To make it easier to memorize, we have broken down the alphabet between vowels and consonants, but also between the main types of sounds. It is important to remember that each letter of the alphabet may have different sounds when used in words, especially when they have an accent or are part of a combination of letters, like the famous French nasal sounds. For the sake of our article, we are focusing on the pronunciation of the letters when they are used on their own, for instance, to spell a word.
Among all the vowels in our table, y is the only one whose name in the alphabet never matches the sound of the letter when it is used in words. The letter is called i grec (Greek i). However, it is pronounced ee as in “cheese” when it is used without another vowel, such as in myriade (myriad), or in the same way as y in “yes” when used with other vowels, such as in voyelle (vowel).
| Vowel | Sound of the alphabet letter | Example of the sound in words |
| a | ah | chat (cat) |
| e | uh | je (I) |
| i | ee | lire (read) |
| o | oh | trop (too much or too many) |
| u | u | tu (you) |
| y | ee grake | myriade (ee sound) voyelle (y sound as in “yes”) |
Let’s start easy with the 6 consonants that sound the same in both alphabets:
| Consonant | Sound of the alphabet letter | Example of the sound in words |
| f | ef | effet (effect) |
| l | el | elle (she) |
| m | em | aimer (love) |
| n | en | italienne (Italian, when referring to a female person or any feminine word) |
| s | es | essai (trial) |
| z | zed | zéro (zero) |
These are pretty much all the consonants with an ee sound in English. The only exception is the letter w: while it is called “double u” in the English alphabet, it is called “double v” in French. So it only makes sense that it should fall in the same category as the letter v, but also that the name for w in the French alphabet doesn’t match the sound of the letter when it is used in words. Then, w is pronounced like v:
| Consonant | Sound of the alphabet letter | Example of the sound in words |
| b | bay | bébé (baby) |
| c | say | cesser (cease) |
| d | day | délicieux (delicious) |
| g | jay | géranium (geranium) |
| p | pay | personne (person) |
| t | tay | téléphone (phone) |
| v | vay | vélo (bike) |
| w | doo-bluh-vay | wagon (train carriage) |
Those remaining consonants have unique sounds, and as such it is difficult to put them in a coherent category. Beware of the letter q which contains the same u sound we mentioned before. When used in words, the letter sounds like c in cat.
| Consonant | Sound of the alphabet letter | Example of the sound in words |
| h | ash | hache (axe) |
| j | gee | tajine (tagine) |
| k | kah | karaté (karate) |
| q | ku | N/A |
| r | air | mer (sea) |
| x | eeks | xylophone (xylophone) |
It’s also important to note that g and j in the French alphabet have the exact opposite sounds than in the English alphabet: j sounds like gee in French, but jay in English, whereas g sounds like jay in French but gee in English.
The French alphabet may have as many letters as the English one, but some letters in French sound very different from their English counterparts. The learning program OUINO French for example has a pronunciation module that allows you to learn the different French sounds by recording your voice and comparing it with native speakers. The sounds that are different from English are clearly identified. Learning how to pronounce them will not only help you with spelling but also introduce you to some very useful and unique French sounds. It’s a vital step to be able both to distinguish and to reproduce the specific pronunciation of the letters of the French alphabet.
