When “em” and “en” are used as prefixes (meaning at the start of a word) in French, they are always nasal vowels.
| Prefix | Example | Phonetics | Audio |
| em- | emmener | ɑ̃mne | emmener |
| em- | empirer | ɑ̃piʀe | empirer |
| en- | enamourer | ɑ̃namuʀe | enamourer |
| en- | ennuyer | ɑ̃nɥije | ennuyer |
“én” (with an acute accent) is not the same as “en” (without an accent). As a prefix with an acute accent, it is oral, not nasal.
How do you pronounce the letters “im” or “in” when they occur at the start of a word in French? Are they nasal or not? As you can see in the two tables below, the rules are simple. “im” or “in” plus a consonant are nasal. But “imm,” “inn,” “im + vowel,” or “in +…
The letter “c” can be pronounced in two different ways in French. It can be hard, like the first “c” in the word “coriace,” meaning “tough,” “leathery,” or “hard-headed,” pronounced [KOH REE AHSS]. Or it can be soft, like the last “c” in “coriace.” How do you know whether a “c” will be hard or…
The letter “g” can be pronounced in two different ways in French. It can be hard, like the first “g” in the word “garage,” which is both a French word and an English word. Or it can be soft, like the last “g” in “garage.” How do you know whether a “g” will be hard…
French words like “démocratie,” “acrobatie,” “aristocratie,” or “patienter” all contain the letter combination “tie.” How are words like these pronounced in French? What about words like “amnistie” or “dynastie”? The “tie” letter combination in French can either be pronounced as “SEE” or as “TEE.” How do you know which pronunciation to use? The easiest way…
A common pronunciation mistake by French learners is the letter “x” and the letter combination “ex.” To fix these mistakes, we need to start at with the French alphabet and the letter “x.” In French, “x” in the alphabet is not pronounced EX like it is in English. Instead, it is pronounced EEKS. That’s important…
The pronunciation of the French words “six” (6) and “dix” (10) is a bit unusual. There are three ways of pronouncing the final “x.” When counting, eg from 1 to 10, “six” is pronounced SEESS and “dix” is pronounced DEESS. So the last letter sounds like a soft “s” sound. When saying something like “six…