1. Leçon 1: Les Accents
French uses accents and spelling marks that do not exist in English.
These marks are part of the spelling and CANNOT be left out.
mark
name
example
What it tells you
l’accent aigu
Cécile, écrivez
Pronounce the “e” like “aay”; only used on the letter “e”
l’accent grave
Michèle, très, à
On “e” indicates next syllable is mute; on “a” and “u” distinguishes
between homographs ^
l’accent circonflexe
Jérôme, forêt
Indicates that an “s” used to follow the vowel or to distinguish
between homographs;
can appear on any vowel ••
le tréma
Noël, Joëlle,
maïs
Pronounce 2 vowels that are
next to each other as
separate sounds;
la cédille
François, Ça va
Changes the “c” from a “ka”
to a “sa” sound; never placed in front of a e or i because c already sounds like an s in front of these vowels