French Steps - Pronunciation - Alphabet

The alphabet

You may well have to spell out your name and perhaps your address in French. Here is the alphabet and how to pronounce it:

Letters that end in an -ee sound in English end in an -ay sound in French:

b

c

d

p

t

v

Letters that start with an 'e' sound, like English 's', are virtually identical in French:

f

l

m

n

s

The vowels are short sounds:

a

e

i

o

u

For g and j swap the English pronunciation around:

j

g

The remaining letters are:

h

k

q

r

w ('double v')

x

y ('Greek i')

z

When giving an email or website address the conventions are:

@ . /

arobase point oblique

Try to spell out these email and Internet addresses, then practise with your own email address if you have one:

un.abonné@entreprise.fr  www.bbc.co.uk