Interactive journey
Master the French Alphabet
L'alphabet français looks familiar, but the sounds tell a different story. Learn every letter, name and accent — then lock it in with flashcards and a quiz.
L'alphabet français
6 voyelles · 20 consonnes
/a/
called « a »
avion— plane
À à, Â â, Æ æ
Walking the alphabet…
Chapter 1 · The full alphabet
Tap any letter to hear and see it
Each letter has its own name and sound. Select a letter to explore its phonetic value, its letter-name, its accented forms and an example word.
- Sound
- /a/
- Letter name
- a
- Accented forms
- À à, Â â, Æ æ
- Example
- avion (plane)
Chapter 2 · The 7 trickiest letters
Sounds English speakers stumble on
A handful of letters trip up English speakers most. Expand each one for a plain-English trick to nail the sound.
Pronounce the “e” like “euh” — think of the sound you make when you see something disgusting. It is soft and swallowed, not the sharp English “ee”.
Chapter 3 · Accents & diacritics
Small marks, big meaning
French accent marks are named by the letter plus the accent. They do not always change pronunciation, but they can change a word’s meaning entirely.
| Mark | Name | Note |
|---|---|---|
| é | e accent aigu | A closed, sharp “ay” sound. |
| è | e accent grave | An open “eh” sound. |
| ê | e accent circonflexe | Often marks a dropped historic “s”. |
| ë | e tréma | Signals the vowel is pronounced separately. |
Accents change meaning
Chapter 4 · Vowels & consonants
Six vowels, twenty consonants
French counts six vowels and twenty consonants — and Y is treated as a vowel, unlike in English.
6
Vowels
AEIOUY
20
Consonants
Everything else — from B to Z. Y is the surprise crossover that plays a vowel in French.
Chapter 5 · Flashcards
Flip through every letter
See the letter and its sound, then flip to reveal an example word and translation. Use the arrows to move through the deck.
Chapter 6 · Knowledge check
Test your alphabet
Five quick questions to prove you have the sounds, names and accents down.
How is the letter “H” usually pronounced in French?