Pronouncing the letter h in French
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Pronouncing the letter h
At the start of a word, the letter h is either:
• silent: the silent h doesn’t alter the pronunciation. As with words which start with a vowel, we make liasons and contractions (le/la → l’, de → d’).
• silent: the silent h doesn’t alter the pronunciation. As with words which start with a vowel, we make liasons and contractions (le/la → l’, de → d’).
un hôpital
a hospital, les hôpitaux
hospitals
un hôtel a hotel, des hôtels hotels
l’histoire the story, les histoires stories
un habit an item of clothing, des habits items of clothing
un hôtel a hotel, des hôtels hotels
l’histoire the story, les histoires stories
un habit an item of clothing, des habits items of clothing
• aspirated or voiced: the aspirated h is considered to be like a consonant, so we don’t make any liaisons or contractions.
un héros
a hero, les héros
heroes
le hibou an owl, les hiboux owls
un haricot a bean, des haricots beans
le hibou an owl, les hiboux owls
un haricot a bean, des haricots beans
In the middle of a word, the letter h allows us to separate two vowel sounds:
une trahison
a treason, a betrayal
incompréhensible incomprehensible
ébahi dumbstruck
incompréhensible incomprehensible
ébahi dumbstruck
We don’t usually pronounce the letter h after a consonant.
le bonheur
happiness
une bibliothèque a library
une bibliothèque a library
Special cases: ch is generally pronounced che
, and ph is pronounced like the letter f
.
un chat
a cat
un éléphant an elephant
un éléphant an elephant
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