Les Accents - French Accents

Accent aigu on the letter e.

é

What does an accent aigu tell you?

Tells you to pronounce an <> similar to the <> in the English word <>. (exemple: répétez!)

Accent grave on the letters <

è, à, ù

What does an accent grave tell you on the letter <>?

Tells you to pronounce an <> like the <> in the English word <>. (exemple: très)

What does an accent grave tell you on the letter <> or <>?

Tells you an <> or a <> is pronounced the same, but it changes the meaning of the word. (à, où)

Accent circonflexe on all 5 vowels.

â, ê, î, ô, û

What does an accent circonflexe tell you?

Tells you not to change the pronunciation - often means there used to be an S in the word in old French. (hôtel)

Cédille on a c.

ç

What does a cédille tell you?

Tells you to pronounce the <> like an <> (français)

Tréma on <

ë, ï, ö, ü

What does a tréma tell you?

Tells you to pronounce two vowels that are next to each other separately. (Noël, naïve)

What accent mark is in this word: français?

cédille

What accent mark is in this word: très?

accent grave

What accent mark is in this word: naïve?

tréma

What 2 accents are in this word: tétû (=stubborn)?

accent aigu, accent circonflexe

What 2 accents are in this word: élève?

accent aigu, accent grave

Les accents français et les signes orthographiques:
POURQUOI (=why) ils sont importants?

Because they are part of spelling=l'orthographe.
They can change the meaning=La signification/le sens.
They can change the pronunciation=la prononciation.

accent aigu

Goes up. The most used accent and is only placed on the letter e. Sounds like <> in <>.

accent grave

Goes down. Can be placed on the letters <

une cédille

It looks like a squiggle or number 5 under the letter 'c' and is ONLY used on the letter c (ç.).

preferer

préférer

experience

expérience

bibliotheque

bibliothèque

marche

marché

elephant

éléphant

chateau

château

frere

frère

derniere

derrière

garcon

garçon

tete

tête

medecin

médecin