Les combinaisons de lettres / Letter Combinations

In French, certain letters combine to create new sounds. These combinations (digraphs and trigraphs)
produce sounds different from their individual letters. Once you learn these patterns, you can read almost any French
word correctly.

1. Vowel Combinations

When vowels appear together, they often make a single sound:

Combination	IPA	Examples
ou	[u]	vous [vu] — you, jour [ʒuʁ] — day, toujours [tuʒuʁ] — always
au / eau	[o]	au [o] — to the, beau [bo] — beautiful, eau [o] — water
ai / ei	[ɛ]	fait [fɛ] — done, mai [mɛ] — May, neige [nɛʒ] — snow
oi	[wa]	moi [mwa] — me, toi [twa] — you, trois [tʁwa] — three
eu / œu	[ø] / [œ]	deux [dø] — two, bleu [blø] — blue, sœur [sœʁ] — sister

2. Nasal Vowels

When vowels are followed by n or m, they become nasal sounds (air goes through your
nose):

Combination	IPA	Examples
an / am / en / em	[ɑ̃]	France [fʁɑ̃s], dans [dɑ̃] — in, temps [tɑ̃] — time
in / im / ain / ein	[ɛ̃]	vin [vɛ̃] — wine, pain [pɛ̃] — bread, demain [dəmɛ̃] — tomorrow
on / om	[ɔ̃]	bon [bɔ̃] — good, non [nɔ̃] — no, maison [mɛzɔ̃] — house
un / um	[œ̃]	un [œ̃] — one, lundi [lœ̃di] — Monday, parfum [paʁfœ̃] — perfume

Important: The nasal sound only happens when n/m is followed by a consonant or is at the end. If
followed by a vowel, pronounce normally: bonne [bɔn], ami [ami].

3. Consonant Combinations

Combination	IPA	Examples
ch	[ʃ]	chat [ʃa] — cat, cher [ʃɛʁ] — dear, chocolat [ʃɔkɔla]
ph	[f]	photo [foto], téléphone [telefɔn], pharmacie [faʁmasi]
gn	[ɲ]	montagne [mɔ̃taɲ] — mountain, champagne [ʃɑ̃paɲ], signe [siɲ] — sign
qu	[k]	que [kə] — that, qui [ki] — who, quatre [katʁ] — four
th	[t]	thé [te] — tea, théâtre [teɑtʁ], mathématiques [matematik]

4. The Letters G and C

These letters change sound depending on the vowel that follows:

G Sounds

Rule	IPA	Examples
g + a, o, u	[ɡ]	gare [ɡaʁ] — station, gâteau [ɡato] — cake, goût [ɡu] — taste
g + e, i	[ʒ]	gentil [ʒɑ̃ti] — nice, girafe [ʒiʁaf], âge [aʒ] — age
gu + e, i	[ɡ]	guerre [ɡɛʁ] — war, guitare [ɡitaʁ], guide [ɡid]

C Sounds

Rule	IPA	Examples
c + a, o, u	[k]	café [kafe], comment [kɔmɑ̃] — how, cuisine [kɥizin] — kitchen
c + e, i	[s]	ce [sə] — this, ciel [sjɛl] — sky, merci [mɛʁsi] — thank you
ç	[s]	ça [sa] — that, français [fʁɑ̃sɛ], garçon [ɡaʁsɔ̃] — boy

5. The “ILL” and “IL” Combinations

Combination	IPA	Examples
-ille	[ij]	fille [fij] — girl, famille [famij] — family, vanille [vanij]
-ail / -aille	[aj]	travail [tʁavaj] — work, détail [detaj] — detail
-eil / -eille	[ɛj]	soleil [sɔlɛj] — sun, oreille [ɔʁɛj] — ear
-ouille	[uj]	grenouille [ɡʁənuj] — frog, bouillir [bujiʁ] — to boil

Exception: In some words, “ill” sounds like [il]: ville [vil] — city, mille [mil]
— thousand, tranquille [tʁɑ̃kil] — calm.

6. The “-tion” and “-sion” Endings

Words ending in -tion and -sion are very common in French. They often look similar
to English words, making them easy to recognize:

Ending	IPA	Examples
-tion	[sjɔ̃]	nation [na.sjɔ̃], station [sta.sjɔ̃], information [ɛ̃.fɔʁ.ma.sjɔ̃]
-sion	[zjɔ̃]	télévision [te.le.vi.zjɔ̃], décision [de.si.zjɔ̃], occasion [ɔ.ka.zjɔ̃]
-ssion	[sjɔ̃]	passion [pa.sjɔ̃], mission [mi.sjɔ̃], profession [pʁɔ.fɛ.sjɔ̃]

Tip: These endings are nasal sounds—the “on” part goes through your nose. Many English words ending
in “-tion” have French cognates with the same spelling!

Practice Sentences

1. Je bois de l’eau tous les jours. [ʒə bwa də lo tu le ʒuʁ] — I drink water every day.
2. Ma maison est près de la montagne. [ma mɛzɔ̃ ɛ pʁɛ də la mɔ̃taɲ] — My house is near the mountain.
3. Le chat mange du chocolat. [lə ʃa mɑ̃ʒ dy ʃɔkɔla] — The cat eats chocolate.
4. Ma fille travaille à Paris. [ma fij tʁavaj a paʁi] — My daughter works in Paris.
5. Il fait beau aujourd’hui. [il fɛ bo oʒuʁdɥi] — It’s beautiful today.

Exercise: Pronounce These Words

Write the IPA pronunciation for each word:

1. beau (beautiful) → _______
2. maison (house) → _______
3. chocolat (chocolate) → _______
4. français (French) → _______
5. fille (girl) → _______
6. montagne (mountain) → _______

Answers

1. beau [bo] — eau = [o]
2. maison [mɛzɔ̃] — ai = [ɛ], on = [ɔ̃]
3. chocolat [ʃɔkɔla] — ch = [ʃ]
4. français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] — an = [ɑ̃], ai = [ɛ]
5. fille [fij] — ille = [ij]
6. montagne [mɔ̃taɲ] — on = [ɔ̃], gn = [ɲ]