French pronunciation: the letter C
Here are some handy tips for pronouncing the letter C in French
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There are two different ways to pronounce the letter C in French:
1. Like a K
2. Like an S
C + A / O / U = K
The letter C is pronounced like a K when it is in front of the letters A, O or U.
café (kah-feh)
concombre (kon-kom-breugh)
curiosité (koo-ree-oh-see-teh)
C + E / I = S
The letter C is pronounced like an S when it is in front of the letters E or I.
c’est (seh)
garçon (gar-son(g))
façade (fah-sad)
The Ç cedilla
If you put a cedilla (the little squiggle) on a letter C, it will change it from a K sound to an S sound. So, “ç” is always pronounced like an S.
ça (sah)
concombre (kon-kom-breugh)
curiosité (koo-ree-oh-see-teh)
Let’s practise
How do you pronounce these French words correctly?
- carottes
- cent
- c’est
- caleçon
- ça
- nièce
- circuit
- ciel
- contre
- cependant
ANSWERS
- kah-ROT
- son(g)
- seh
- kal-SON(g)
- nee-ESS
- seer-KWEE
- see-ELL
- kon-treugh
- seugh-pon(g)-don(g)
Learn more
This lesson was taken from my course called “3 Minute French — Course 1”. If you want to learn more French using my unique and easy-to-follow method, then you can get the whole course here: https://3minutelanguages.teachable.com/p/3-minute-french-course-1
In this course, I break down the French language into its core components and show you how to build it back together again. Just for your reference, this explanation about the pronunciation of the letter C can be found in lesson 3 of the 3 Minute French course.
