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.
French verb endings often mark the difference between singular and plural in writing, but not always in speech. In many cases, the spelling changes while the pronunciation remains identical. In other cases, the plural form produces a clearly audible difference. Understanding when plural forms can be heard, and when they cannot, is essential for listening…
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…
Some French words, like contact, have a clearly pronounced -ct, while others, like aspect, have a silent -ct. This difference is due to phonetic evolution, word stress, and borrowing history. 1. The Role of Stress and Borrowing History 2. When is -CT Pronounced in French? The -ct is pronounced when: 3. When is -CT Silent?…
One of the trickiest aspects of French pronunciation for learners is liaison – the smooth linking of a normally silent final consonant to the beginning of the following word when that word starts with a vowel or a silent “h”. Knowing when to do a liaison and when to avoid it is key to sounding…
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…
Why isn’t the French word oignon (onion) pronounced like the French word moi (me)? The short answer is that the irregular pronunciation of oignon (approximately “ohn-yon”) is a fossil of its historical spelling and etymology. The difference between it and a word like moi (“mwa”) comes down to a specific spelling reform. Let’s break it…