How to Read French: Silent Letters, Accents and Liaison
How to read French out loud: the accents, silent letters, liaison and spelling patterns you need to read a Paris café menu, with audio.
Linguino · Sep 23, 2026 · 10 min read
To read French, learn a small set of spelling patterns and three habits: most final consonants are silent, an accent changes the sound of an e, and some silent letters come back when the next word starts with a vowel. French uses the same 26 letters as English, plus a few accents. Once you know which letter groups make which sound, you can read most words aloud correctly, even words you have never seen.
French spelling keeps many letters that are no longer pronounced, but it keeps them in predictable places. This guide covers the marks, the silent letters, the letter groups that matter most, and liaison, then gives you a short routine for reading a real café order out loud in Paris.
What do the accents on French letters mean?
French accents are part of the spelling, not decoration. Some change the sound; others only tell two words apart. You will see them on menus and signs, and the Académie française recommends keeping them on capital letters too, so ÉTÉ is still "été" (Questions de langue).
| Mark | Example | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| é (accent aigu) | café, allongé | A closed "ay" sound, without the English glide. |
| è (accent grave) | très, crème | An open "eh" sound. |
| ê (circonflexe on e) | vous êtes | Usually the same open "eh" as è. |
| à, ù | à, où | No change in sound; tells à (to, at) from a (has), and où (where) from ou (or). |
| ç (cédille) | ça, garçon | A soft "s" before a, o or u, where a plain c would sound like "k". |
| ë, ï (tréma) | Noël, maïs | Say the two vowels separately. |
The e is the letter to watch. Without an accent, an e at the end of a word is usually silent (chose, orange). In short words like je, le, de and que, the e is said as a light "uh": je voudrais is "zhuh voo-DREH". With é, it is always pronounced. That is why café has two syllables and crème has one.
Why does French have so many silent letters?
French spelling kept many letters after the pronunciation changed. For a reader, three rules cover most of them.
1. Final consonants are usually silent. In croissant, chocolat and s'il vous plaît, you do not say the final t, and the s in vous is silent too. The common exceptions are c, r, f and l, which are often pronounced at the end of a word: avec, bonjour, neuf, il. Even these have exceptions: the r in -er endings, as in parler or déjeuner, is silent.
2. A final e is usually silent, but it wakes up the consonant before it. Chaud (hot) ends in a silent d. In chaude, the e is silent but the d is now heard. Petit and petite work the same way. When you see a consonant followed by a final e, say the consonant.
3. Plural endings are silent. Un café and des cafés end with the same sound. In verbs, the -ent of ils parlent (they speak) is silent as well. Look at the small word in front (un, une, le, la, des or les) to know whether there is one thing or several.
On its own, the letter h is never pronounced: Hôtel starts with the "o" sound, and thé (tea) sounds like "tay". In ch and ph it is part of a letter group (see below).
Which French letter groups should a beginner learn first?
French often writes one sound with two or three letters. These groups appear on almost every menu, so they are worth learning as single units.
| Letters | Sounds like | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| ou | "oo" | vous, bonjour |
| oi | "wa" | croissant, trois |
| au, eau | "oh" | chaud, gâteau |
| ai, ei | "eh" | je voudrais, treize |
| u | "ee" with rounded lips | jus, sucre |
| eu | close to the "u" in "fur", with rounded lips | deux, beurre |
| ch | "sh" | chose, chocolat |
| gn | "ny", as in "canyon" | champignon |
| qu | "k" | qu'est-ce que |
| ill after a vowel | "y" | bouteille |
| -er, -ez at the end | "ay", like é | déjeuner, assez |
Two more rules help with c and g. Before e, i or y, c sounds like "s" (merci, citron) and g sounds like the "s" in "measure" (orange, allongé). Before a, o or u, they are hard: café, gâteau.
Nasal vowels: on, an, en, in
When a vowel is followed by n or m in the same syllable, the n is usually not pronounced as a full n. The vowel goes partly through the nose instead. You hear it in bonjour, croissant, encore and pain. An and en usually sound the same.
The vowel usually stops being nasal when the n is doubled or followed by a vowel. Bon (good, masculine) is nasal; bonne (good, feminine) has a plain vowel and a clear n. Un is nasal; une is not.
What is liaison in French?
Liaison is the moment a silent final consonant comes back because the next word starts with a vowel sound. Vous alone ends in a silent s. In vous êtes, that s is pronounced as a "z" and joins the next word: "voo-ZET". A waiter might ask Vous êtes combien ? ("How many are you?") as you arrive.
Common liaisons you will read on a menu or hear at a table:
- les œufs (the eggs): "lay-ZUH" (œ is o and e written together; here œu sounds like eu). Note that the f of œufs is silent in the plural.
- deux euros: "duh-zuh-ROH". An s or x joins as "z".
- un ami: the n of un joins the next word.
Some liaisons are required, some are optional, and some are never made. As a reader, start with the required ones after les, des, un, vous, nous and numbers. Never make a liaison after et (and): in un café et un croissant, the t of et is never said.
The apostrophe does a similar job. A few short words (le, la, de, je, ne, que, and si before il) drop their vowel before a word that starts with a vowel sound, and French writes an apostrophe: l'addition instead of "la addition", s'il instead of "si il", d'orange instead of "de orange". Read the two parts as one word: l'addition is "lah-dee-SYON".
How to read a French café menu out loud
A Paris café menu, la carte, is a good first reading task. The words are short, they repeat, and they use most of the patterns above. Read each line aloud before you tap the audio, then compare.
| On the menu | Sounds like | Meaning | Pattern to notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| un café allongé | uhn kah-FAY ah-lohn-ZHAY | a long black coffee | é is always said; soft g before e |
| un croissant | uhn krwah-SAHN | a croissant | oi = "wa"; nasal an; silent final t |
| un chocolat chaud | uhn sho-ko-LAH SHOH | a hot chocolate | ch = "sh"; au = "oh"; silent t and d |
| un jus d'orange | uhn ZHEW doh-RAHNZH | an orange juice | u with rounded lips (say "ee", then round your lips); the e of orange is silent but the g is heard |
Two menu words surprise English readers. In France, une entrée is a starter, not a main course. Le menu is often a fixed set meal at a fixed price, while the full list of dishes is la carte.
Then read the exchange itself: your lines and the waiter's replies, from Linguino's Paris café scene.
- Bonjour, je voudrais un café, s'il vous plaît. "Hello, I would like a coffee, please." Say je voudrais as "zhuh voo-DREH": the ou is "oo", ai is "eh", and the final s is silent.
- Très bien. Autre chose ? "Very good. Anything else?" This is what the waiter is likely to say back. Au is "oh", ch is "sh", and the final e of chose is silent: "oh-truh SHOHZ". The e of autre is said lightly ("truh") because French avoids three consonants in a row (t, r, ch).
- L'addition, s'il vous plaît. "The bill, please." The -tion ending sounds like "syon", with a nasal vowel.
- Tout de suite. "Right away." The waiter's answer. The t of tout is silent, and the final e of suite lets the t before it be heard: "too-duh-SWEET".
French puts a little more weight on the last syllable of a word or a group of words. In s'il vous plaît, lean slightly on plaît and keep the other syllables even. Capital letters in the pronunciation guides mark that syllable.
Common traps when reading French
- Reading every letter. Before you say a word, look at its last letter and ask whether it is heard. The s in vous and the t in croissant are not.
- Saying the n in nasal vowels. In bon or pain, the vowel goes through the nose and there is no clear n at the end.
- Making a liaison everywhere. Start with the required ones. If you are unsure, leave it out.
- Treating every -ent the same way. -ent is silent in ils parlent but pronounced as a nasal vowel in souvent (often) and le client. If the word is a verb after ils or elles, the ending is silent.
A 10-minute routine for reading French aloud
Use the café order above, or any short French text you already understand.
- Minutes 0–3: mark the page. Cross out the letters you think are silent. Underline the letter groups from the tables (ou, oi, au, ch, nasal vowels). Draw a small link where you expect a liaison.
- Minutes 3–5: read aloud slowly. Say each line once, following your marks. Do not stop to fix a sound; finish the line.
- Minutes 5–7: check with audio. Play the dialogue below with the English hidden. Where your version was different, look at the spelling again and find the rule that explains it.
- Minutes 7–10: read it with the rhythm. Read the whole exchange again at a steady pace, one breath group at a time, then say your lines without looking.
Ordering on a Paris café terrace
Bonjour ! Qu'est-ce que je vous sers ?
Hello! What can I get you?
Bonjour, je voudrais un café allongé et un croissant, s'il vous plaît.
Hello, I would like a long black coffee and a croissant, please.
Très bien. Autre chose ?
Very good. Anything else?
Non, merci. C'est tout.
No, thank you. That's all.
Voilà, un café allongé et un croissant.
Here you are, a long black coffee and a croissant.
L'addition, s'il vous plaît.
The bill, please.
Tout de suite.
Right away.
Once the spelling points you to the sound, the next step is understanding spoken French, where the same words arrive faster and without the page. The third guide in this beginner series, introducing yourself in French, turns reading into a short exchange you can say from memory. For the full café conversation, including which coffee to ask for, see how to order coffee in French. If you can read a line perfectly but go quiet when someone is waiting for your answer, why you freeze speaking a language explains what to practice instead.
Linguino's Paris café scene uses the order and bill lines above. Your AI teacher plays the waiter and adapts to what you say, and phrase cards show the French you need if you get stuck, so you read a line, then say it to someone who answers. You can replay the teacher's lines and see an English translation when a reply goes by too fast. Afterwards, the quiz, scored speaking cards, coach feedback and your Phrasebook help you go over the words you read. The café is one of 52 scenes in each of seven language paths, and free three-minute sessions start after email sign-in, with no card required.