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    French Essentials
    French Essentials
    French Essentials
    Ebook231 pages2 hours

    French Essentials

    By Miriam Ellis

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    About this ebook

    REA’s Essentials provide quick and easy access to critical information in a variety of different fields, ranging from the most basic to the most advanced. As its name implies, these concise, comprehensive study guides summarize the essentials of the field covered. Essentials are helpful when preparing for exams, doing homework and will remain a lasting reference source for students, teachers, and professionals. French reviews the fundamentals of the French language, including basic pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure. Other topics include cognates, numbers, idiomatic expressions, time, weather, and clothing.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherResearch & Education Association
    Release dateJan 1, 2013
    ISBN9780738670560
    French Essentials

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      Book preview

      French Essentials - Miriam Ellis

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      CHAPTER 1

      The Sounds of French

      1.1 Pronunciation Hints

      French is one of the Romance languages (the others are Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, and Provençal) and is vocalic in its sound, i.e., based on vowels. This structure gives the language its soft and flowing character. English speakers can attain good pronunciation if the following simple rules are kept in mind:

      There are no diphthongs in French, as there are in English: boy = aw, ee, yuh. French vowels are clean and pure; e.g., imiter = ee-mee-tay (to imitate) and should be formed without any secondary movement of the jaw.

      Every syllable is of equal importance in volume and stress; e.g., English: de/VEL/op/ment and French: dé/ve/lop/pe/ ment. There is a slight emphasis on the last syllable in words of two or more syllables and in a group of words: dé/li/ CIEUX; Je parle franÇAIS; but it is not a strong stress.

      Consonants are softened: don’t explode your d’s, t’s, b’s, p’s, g’s, and k’s and your accent will improve.

      There are two sounds that are generally difficult for English speakers: the r, which can be achieved by gargling, and the u (as in "tu), which is made by puckering your lips as if to whistle, while you say ee."

      1.1.1 Further Pronunciation Details

      French has the same alphabet as English; some letters are written but are not pronounced (e.g., most final consonants: sans, chez, tard, livres). Exceptions to this rule are the final c, as in bouc (billy goat), f, as in chef (head, chief), 1, as in formel (formal), and r, as in air.

      Also silent are h, as in homme, héros, théâtre, and some combinations of letters, as in parlent, monsieur, voudraient.

      In cognates (words that we recognize from English), spelling is often different from English, with letters added, deleted, or changed, giving the word a French look: classe, indépendance, appartement, université. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), utilized in most good dictionaries, will help you understand the sounds of French vowels, which remain unchanged, even in different spelling groups.

      1.2 The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)

      There are 17 consonants, 16 vowels (12 oral vowels pronounced in the mouth and 4 oral vowels articulated in the nasal passage), and 3 semi-vowels/semi-consonants halfway between vowels and consonants. These sounds are expressed by phonetic symbols which are always written between [ ].

      1.2.1 Oral Vowels

      1.2.2 Nasal Vowels

      Remember this little phrase, which includes all the nasal vowels: Un bon vin blanc [ ] . (A good white wine.)

      Denasalization, or oral pronunciation, of the nasal vowel occurs under two conditions:

      When a nasal vowel is followed by another n or m: e.g., intime ] ; innocent sã]; important ]; immédiat [imedja]; enfant [ãfã]; ennemi nmi]; bon ]; bonne n].

      When a nasal vowel is followed by another vowel: e.g., pain ] ; peine [pen] ; incident ] ; inutile [inytil]; profond ] ; chronique nik].

      1.2.3 Semi-Vowels/Semi-Consonants: Halfway Between Vowels and Consonants

      1.2.4 Consonants

      Pronounce them softly!

      Bi-labials: [p], [b], [m]. Both lips are used. Papa, bébé, maman.

      Labio-dentals: [f], [v]. Teeth against lower lip. Frère, vie.

      Dentals: [t], [d], [n], [l]. Put your tongue against the back of your upper teeth to soften the sound. Don’t explode it! Ton, de, non, la.

      Alveolars: ] chanson, riche, acheter; ] Jean, Giverny, voyage. In English: she, pleasure.

      Palatal: ] N + yuh. Champagne, Allemagne. In English: He’ll train yuh.

      Velars: [k], [g]. Produced in the throat; make them soft. [k] avec, qui, klaxon; [g] grand, fatigué.

      Uvular: [r]. Gargle it! rue, Robert, travail.

      1.2.5 Spelling Groups

      Phonetic symbols and examples of some common spelling combinations:

      [e] é = école; ée =fiancée; ef = clef or clé, er = chanter; es = ces; et = cadet; ez = nez; ai = j’ai; e + il or ille = pareil, merveille; ay = ayons.

      [e] ai + consonant = aide, aile, j’aime, palais, caisse, chaise, paix, faites; è = père, chèque, mène, achète, Thèbes, mèche, il lève; e = tête, même, guêpe, gêne, chaîne; e + tte = dette; e + l or lle = sel, elle; e + ige = neige; e + ine = peine.

      [i] ami, il y a.

      [o] tôt, sauce, beau, ôter [ote], haut.

      ] porte, observer ]).

      [œ] cœur, peur, jeune, beurre, seul, deuil [dœj], bœuf.

      [u] trou, toute, vous.

      [y] vue, rhume [rym], utile [ytil].

      ] je, demain, menace nas], fenêtre ].

      1.3 The French Alphabet

      Here is the phonetic pronunciation of the French alphabet:

      Note:

      1

      i] like gee in English. Remember that the

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