Consonants at the end of the word are never pronounced ( except for a few exceptions, which we’ll see as we learn language).
Français -s silent ( masc. noun- French )
We add e to the words to make them pronounceable and feminine.
Française - (fem. french)
| Sounds like (English/french) | Punjabi | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| ez, es, er (at the end) ai( a few exceptions) | é ( a in case) | ਏ | nez (nose), Parler (to speak), j’ai ( i have), des (some) , les (plural ‘the’ ), Français |
| et, el, ai ( mostly at the end, Future tense and in feminine words), er (in the middle of words) | è ( a in cat) | ਐ | parlerai (will speak ) - , française, hôtel , elle- she , forêt, terre- earth |
| Au, eau | o | ਓ | beau- beaty (masc sing) , château (castle) |
| eu | French e | ਅ | peur - fear |
| Ou | oo in the book but longer and softer | ਊ | ou - or , où- where, Trouver- to find |
| cr | Khrh or crh | ਖ੍ਰੱ - ਕ੍ਰੱ | créé- created |
| tr | thrh or trh | ਤ੍ਰੱ - ਥ੍ਰੱ | tréma (accent tréma) ¨ |
| an, am, en, em | Aun like in taunt and n is a nazal sound | ਔਂ | tante - aunty , france |
| ain, aim, ein, eim, aym, in, im, yn, ym | Sounds like an in ant | ਐਂ | du pain- some bread |
| on, om | on (n is the nazal sound) | ਓਂ | ton- your, bon - good |
| ion | Eeon (n is the nazal sound) | ਈਓਂ | salutation, station, professionnel |
| ien | ean n is nazal sound | ਈਆ | bien, rien |
| -ti(on) , -ti(en)-, -tio | See | ਸੀ | salutation, station, patio-terrace, patience |
| -tie | tee-uh - t ( french) | ਤੀ | partie - part |
| th | t ( french) | ਤ | thé- tea |
| tt | t( french) | ਤ | battre, mettre |
| ch | Sounds like tio in nation | sh | château- castle, chat -cat |
| ui | vi | ਵੀ | oui-yes |
| oi | vaah | ਵਾ | boire- to drink, oiseau |
| qu | ke | ਕੱ | que - what , quatre- 4 |
| gu | Ge ( where g sounds like g in game) | ਗ਼ੱ | la langue- language |
| la guerre - war | |||
| fatigue- tiredness | |||
| un guide | |||
| guitar | |||
| guimauve - marshmallow | |||
| Ga | Gaa ( where g sounds like g in game) | ਗ਼ਾ | gâteau - cake |
| go | Sounds same as go | ਗ਼ੋ | |
| gi | ji/yi | ਜ਼ੀ - ਯੀ | giraffe |
| ge | ye/je | ਜ਼ੱ - ਯੱ | rouge- red |
| gne/gn | nee-uh | ਨੀਯੱ | gagner- to win |
| -gt | silent at the end of words | vingt - 20 | |
| vowel-s-vowel | s sound will be of - z | poison - poisin, oiseau- bird | |
| -vowel-ss-vowel | ss = s | poisson- fish | |
| -mn- | -n- | ਨੱ | autumn |
| -ill-, -il- | -i- | ਈ | famille- family, fille-daughter/girl, travailler- to work ,juillet, fils- son exception- ville-city, il - he, facile |
Silent letters:
H is always silent h muet (l’homme), except for h aspiré ( le hibou- owl, un héro), which sounds close to nothing as well.
Exception:
in English words: tee-shirt, jeans
r is silent mostly at the end in -er verbs (parler- to speak, manger- to eat) ……
rest is pronounced at the end … Car - but
neuf-9, new
fils- son
tous, Plus (sometimes pronounced)