In general, French is pronounced forward in the mouth (rather than in the back, as in English), and in a tense muscular fashion.

Listen for the intonation of a French sentence. In general, you will notice that the voice falls at the end of a statement, and rises at the end of a question.

In addition, French is pronounced with equal stress on each syllable, with a slight increase in stress at the end of a word or word group.

TRACK 6

Paul est fatigué.

Est-ce que Paul est fatigué?

Céline va au café.

Est-ce que Céline va au café?

Les Consonnes Muettes

Sometimes, letters are silent and are not pronounced; this often occurs with letters at the end of words. Here are the letters to watch:

• Words ending in -d: chaud, meaning “hot.”

• Words ending in -s: compris, meaning “included.”

• Words ending in -t: achat, meaning “purchase.”

• Words ending in -x: choix, meaning “choice.”

TRACK 7

The following letters are generally pronounced at the end of a word: “c,” “r,” “f,” and “l.” “In French, the letter “h,” no matter where it appears in the word, is always silent.

Using Liaison with Articles

When a word ending in a consonant that is normally silent is followed by a word beginning with a vowel sound or an “h,” the ending consonant is sometimes pronounced. This is called liaison. Some ending consonants actually change their pronunciation when liaison occurs: For example, “s” and “x” are pronounced “z” in a liaison. “D” becomes “t.”

The rules governing liaison are complicated; for now, we will just concentrate on the use of liaison with articles. Whenever an article that ends in a consonant is used with a noun that begins with a vowel, the final letter joins with the next vowel sound in a liaison.

TRACK 8

Table 1-7

Liaison and Articles