Pronunciation: im/in prefix
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 + vowel” are all oral, which means not nasal.
Use the phonetics and the audio links in the tables below to understand the differences.
Nasal
| Prefix | Example | Phonetics | Audio |
| “im” + consonant | important | ɛ̃pɔʀtɑ̃ | important |
| “in” + consonant | incroyable | ɛ̃kʀwajabl | incroyable |
Oral (not nasal)
| Prefix | Example | Phonetics | Audio |
| “im” + vowel | imitateur | imitatœʀ | imitateur |
| “in” + vowel | inoubliable | inublijabl | inoubliable |
| “imm” | immobilier | imɔbilje | immobilier |
| “inn” | innovateur | inɔvatœʀ | innovateur |
