Accents, the diaeresis and the cedilla
1. | Accents ( é ; è ; ê ) |
2. | The Diaeresis ( ï ; ë ) |
3. | The Cedilla ( ç ) |
1. Accents· Accents are placed on vowels to show how the vowel is to be pronounced.
· There are three kinds of accent in French:
- the acute, as in é
- the grave, as in è
- the circumflex, as in ê.
· The table below shows the possible combinations of accents and vowels:
· There are three kinds of accent in French:
- the acute, as in é
- the grave, as in è
- the circumflex, as in ê.
· The table below shows the possible combinations of accents and vowels:
a | e | i | o | u | |
acute | é | ||||
grave | à | è | ù | ||
circumflex | â | ê | î | ô | û |
1.1 The acuteThe acute accent is found only on the vowel e. It indicates the sound [e]:
allongé été [ete] départ [depar]
Note:In the following words the acute does not indicate a closed e [e], but an open e événement (second é only) réglementaire
1.2 The grave· On an e, the grave accent indicates the soundtrès, près, règle
· On an a or a u, it is used to differentiate between words which would otherwise be written the same:
- a and à : Elle a voulu aller à la mer.
- la and là : La valise est là.
- ou and où : Tu viens ou non ? - Va où tu veux.
The vowels à and où are pronounced the same as a and ou. The accent has no effect on pronunciation; it is there merely to distinguish the words in writing.
1.3 The circumflex· On an e, the circumflex accent indicates the sound être, forêt, vêtu
· On an a, it indicates a more open sound. The difference between â and a is rather slight and is not observed by all speakers.câble [kabl] ; grâce [gras]
· On an o, it indicates the sound [o]:pôle [pol] ; côté [kote]
· On an i, the circumflex does not alter pronunciation at all. The letters i and î - and ai and aî - are pronounced in exactly the same way:dîner [dine] ; naître
· On a u, it does not alter the pronunciation at all. The letters u and û are pronounced in exactly the same way:sûr [syr] ; goût [gu]
Note:* Remember the spelling of the following word:piqûre [pikyr]
* A circumflex is always found on the first and second persons plural of the past historic: faire è nous fîmes, vous fîtes
avoir è nous eûmes, vous eûtes
*The circumflex is also used to distinguish the possessive adjectives notre and votre from the corresponding possessive pronouns le nôtre and le vôtre.
*Verbs in -aître and -oître take a circumflex in all those forms where an i comes before a t:Il le connaît.
· On an a or a u, it is used to differentiate between words which would otherwise be written the same:
- a and à : Elle a voulu aller à la mer.
- la and là : La valise est là.
- ou and où : Tu viens ou non ? - Va où tu veux.
The vowels à and où are pronounced the same as a and ou. The accent has no effect on pronunciation; it is there merely to distinguish the words in writing.
1.3 The circumflex· On an e, the circumflex accent indicates the sound être, forêt, vêtu
· On an a, it indicates a more open sound. The difference between â and a is rather slight and is not observed by all speakers.câble [kabl] ; grâce [gras]
· On an o, it indicates the sound [o]:pôle [pol] ; côté [kote]
· On an i, the circumflex does not alter pronunciation at all. The letters i and î - and ai and aî - are pronounced in exactly the same way:dîner [dine] ; naître
· On a u, it does not alter the pronunciation at all. The letters u and û are pronounced in exactly the same way:sûr [syr] ; goût [gu]
Note:* Remember the spelling of the following word:piqûre [pikyr]
* A circumflex is always found on the first and second persons plural of the past historic: faire è nous fîmes, vous fîtes
avoir è nous eûmes, vous eûtes
*The circumflex is also used to distinguish the possessive adjectives notre and votre from the corresponding possessive pronouns le nôtre and le vôtre.
*Verbs in -aître and -oître take a circumflex in all those forms where an i comes before a t:Il le connaît.
2. The diaeresis· When it is placed above an i, the diaeresis indicates that the i and the preceding vowel have to be pronounced separately:
haïr [’air] ; naïf [naif] ; coïncidence
haïr [’air] ; naïf [naif] ; coïncidence
· When it is placed on an e, the diaeresis indicates that the e of the feminine of words ending in -gu is not pronounced:
ambigu | è | ambiguë |
aigu | è | aiguë |
exigu | è | exiguë |
3. The cedilla· A cedilla is placed under the letter c in front of the vowels a, u and o to indicate that the c is to be pronounced [s] and not [k]:
leçon ; façade [fasad] ; déçu [desy]
· In front of e and i, c is pronounced [s] and the cedilla is not required:
face [fas] ; ceci
leçon ; façade [fasad] ; déçu [desy]
· In front of e and i, c is pronounced [s] and the cedilla is not required:
face [fas] ; ceci