The Letter "E" in French In European French
The Letter "E"
"E" is the fifth letter of the French alphabet. It represents a vowel sound, but it is one of the most complicated letters in French pronunciation.
Uppercase form | E |
|---|---|
Lowercase form | e |
Letter name | e |
Main phonemes | /ə/ , /e/ , /ɛ/ , silent |
How to pronounce "E"
The letter e can represent different sounds.
e → /ə/
This is called e muet or schwa. It is a weak vowel sound, similar to the sound in French le.
le → /lə/
the
je → /ʒə/
I
me → /mə/
me
demain → /də.mɛ̃/
tomorrow
In natural speech, this sound is often dropped.
je suis → /ʒə sɥi/ or /ʃɥi/
I am
petit → /pə.ti/ or /pti/
small
Accented forms of E
French has several accented forms of e.
é → /e/
The letter é is pronounced /e/, a closed vowel sound.
été → /e.te/
summer
café → /ka.fe/
coffee
è → /ɛ/
The letter è is pronounced /ɛ/, an open vowel sound.
mère → /mɛ\ʁ/
mother
après → /a.pʁɛ/
after
ê → /ɛ/
The letter ê is usually pronounced /ɛ/.
fête → /fɛt/
party
forêt → /fɔ.ʁɛ\\/
forest
ë
The letter ë has a tréma. It shows that the vowel should be pronounced separately from the vowel before it.
Noël → /nɔ.ɛl/
Christmas
E before a consonant
When e is followed by a pronounced consonant in the same syllable, it is often pronounced /ɛ/.
sel → /sɛl/
salt
avec → /a.vɛk/
with
Final E
At the end of a word, e is usually silent.
table → /tabl/
table
robe → /ʁɔb/
dress
Final e often makes the final consonant before it pronounced.
Compare:
petit → /pə.ti/
small, masculine
petite → /pə.tit/
small, feminine
E in nasal vowels
The letter e can be part of nasal vowel spellings. Here, n or m is usually not pronounced separately. The vowel becomes nasal.
enfant → /ɑ̃.fɑ̃/
child
ensemble → /ɑ̃.sɑ̃bl/
together
peintre → /pɛ̃tʁ/
painter
E in multigraphs
The letter e appears in several important French multigraphs.
eu → /ø/ or /œ/
peu → /pø/
little / few
jeune → /ʒœn/
young
eau → /o/
eau → /o/
water
beau → /bo/
beautiful
ei → /ɛ/
neige → /nɛʒ/
snow
seize → /sɛz/
sixteen
E in verb endings
The letter e is very common in verb endings, and it is often silent.
je parle → /ʒə paʁl/
I speak
il aime → /il ɛm/
he likes / loves
But in endings like -er, -ez, and -é, the sound is usually /e/.
parler → /paʁ.le/
to speak
vous parlez → /vu paʁ.le/
you speak
parlé → /paʁ.le/
spoken
E and connected speech
The sound /ə/ can disappear in natural French, especially in short words.
je te le donne → /ʒə tə lə dɔn/ or /ʒtə lə dɔn/
I give it to you
je ne sais pas → /ʒə nə sɛ pa/ or /ʒə n sɛ pa/
I do not know
samedi → /sa.mə.di/ or /sam.di/
Saturday
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