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Leçon 11

Lesson 11

Sound [о]

French sound Similar English sound French letters and letter combinations Notes

[o]

o

The letter o is pronounced as [o] at the end of words before a silent consonant or before [z].

Ô, ô The sign ˆ (circumflex) above the letter o indicates that it is pronounced as [o].
Exceptions: hôtel [ɔtɛl] m — hotel, hôpital [ɔpital] m — hospital.
The capital letter Ô is more often denoted as O.

au
eau

The letter combinations au, eau are pronounced as [ɔ] in the following cases as the exceptions:
Paul [pɔl] — Paul (male name), mauvais [mɔvɛ] т, mauvaise [mɔvɛ:z] f — bad, poor.

The sound may look easy, but it’s not. It’s similar to the English sound in the word “go” [gou] but without the ending [u].

In order to get closer to the French [o], make your lips like you are going to pronounce the sound [ø], i. e. to whistle (see lesson 9). Then, without changing the position of the lips, pronounce the French [ɔ]. This gives you something similar to the French [o]. Practice makes perfect!

Compare the pictures 1 and 2. Do you see the difference between [ɔ] and [o], don’t you?

[ɔ] [o]
Pic. 1 Pic. 2

Exercise 1. Try to pronounce [ɔ] and [o] differently in your speech. Look at your lips in the mirror and compare them with the pictures 1 and 2:

[pɔ — po — pɔ:r — po], [sɔ — so — sɔl — so], [tɔ — to — tɔs — to], [nɔ — no — nɔ:r — no], [ɔ — о — nɔt — no], [ɔ — о — ɔm — o], [ɔ — о — ɔm — o:z].

Exercise 2. Read the words and try to memorize them:

métro [métro] m — underground, subway chaud [ʃo] m, chaude [ʃo:d] f — warm; hot
eau [о] f — water pauvre [po:vr] m, f — poor
dos [do] m — back (anatomy) cadeau [kado] m — gift, present
mot [mo] m — word chapeau [ʃapo] m — hat
trop [tro] — too (very) tableau [tablo] m — picture
tôt [to] — early rose [ro:z] — 1) m, f pink; 2) f rose
beau [bo] m — beautiful, handsome il faut [ilfo] — it’s necessary to, you have to, one must
peau [po] f — skin

Exercise 3. Read and translate:

Répétez ce mot !

Le peintre est très pauvre

Le train arrive tôt

Il veut faire un cadeau

Lucienne aime ce tableau

Le café est trop chaud

Monsieur est très beau

Apportez les roses !

Elle porte le chapeau rose

Il faut rester ici

Il faut travailler vite

Il faut quitter Paris

Clé

Sound [ɔ̃]

French sound Similar English sound French letters and letter combinations Notes

nasal vowel [ɔ̃]

on
om

The letter combinations on, om are pronounced as [ɔ̃] either if they are at the end of a syllable or if they are followed by a consonant letter but not m or n.

As you may have already guessed, in order to get the French [ɔ̃] you need to “moo with the open mouth” again (see lesson 10), then, without stopping this, pronounce the sound [ɔ] that you already know. Do not forget that there should not be any real [n] in this sound.

Exercise 4. Pronounce:

[ɔ — ɔ̃], [mɔ — mɔ̃], [tɔ — tɔ̃], [sɔ — sɔ̃], [pɔ — pɔ̃], [ɔ:r — ɔ̃], [ɔm — ɔ̃], [ɔl — ɔ̃], [ɔd — ɔ̃], [ɔb — ɔ̃].

Exercise 5. Произнесите слова и выучите их:

mon [mɔ̃] m — my
ton [tɔ̃] m — your (singular)
son [sɔ̃] m — his, her, its
nom [nɔ̃] m — name
sombre [sɔ̃br] m, f — dark
compliqué [kɔ̃plike] m, compliquée [kɔ̃plike] f — complicated
bon [bɔ̃] m — good
long [lɔ̃] m, longue [lɔ̃:g] f — long
bonbon [bɔ̃bɔ̃] m — sweet, candy
garçon [garsɔ̃] m — boy
pont [pɔ̃] m — bridge
leçon [ləsɔ̃] f — lesson
maison [mɛzɔ̃] f — house, home
raconter [rakɔ̃te] — to tell
montrer [mɔ̃tre] — to show
profession [prɔfɛsjɔ̃] f — occupation, profession
agression [agrɛsjɔ̃] f — aggression

Exercise 6. Read horizontally and compare how the letter combinations on, om are pronounced:

before a vowel or the consonants n, m at the end of words or before other consonants

monotone [mɔnɔtɔn]
sonner [sɔne]
bonne [bɔn]
téléphone [telefɔn]
fromage [frɔma:ʒ]
pomme [pɔm]
homme [ɔm]

ton [tɔ̃]
son [sɔ̃]
bon [bɔ̃]
garçon [garsɔ̃]
compliqué [kɔ̃plike]
pont [pɔ̃]
sombre [sɔ̃br]

If the sound [ɔ̃] at the end of a word appears before a vowel of the next word,
then the additional [n] or [m] appears between [ɔ̃] and the next vowel —
depending on what is written in the word together with [ɔ̃]. For example:
bon appétit ! [bɔ̃napeti] — bon appetit!
mon nom est... [mɔ̃nɔ̃mɛ] — my name is...

Exercise 7. Fill in the blanks with the word on the right to get complete sentences. Read these sentences aloud adding additional [n] or [m] in the highlighted positions:

1. Le bonbon est  
compliquée
écrivain
Paul
la leçon
sa maison
rester ici
bon
deux sœurs
sombre
long
2. La salle est
3. Cette affaire est trop
4. Mon nom est
5. Le pont est
6. Elle veut montrer
7. Le garçon peut
8. Il faut répéter
9. Ton père est
10. Son ami a
Clé
The letter combination tion at the end of French nouns is pronounced as [sjɔ̃],
for example: nation [nasjɔ̃] f — nation;
however the word question [kɛstjɔ̃] f — question — is an exception.

Exercise 8. Read the words and try to guess what they mean (use a dictionary if necessary):

révolution [revɔlysjɔ̃] f

délégation [delegasjɔ̃] f

rédaction [redaksjɔ̃] f

situation [sityasjɔ̃] f

administration [administrasjɔ̃] f

collection [kɔlɛksjɔ̃] f

constitution [kɔ̃stitysjɔ̃] f

construction [kɔ̃stryksjɔ̃] f

consultation [kɔ̃syltasjɔ̃] f

expédition [ɛkspedisjɔ̃] f

information [ɛ̃fɔrmasjɔ̃] f

instruction [ɛ̃stryksjɔ̃] f

manifestation [manifɛstasjɔ̃] f

tradition [tradisjɔ̃] f

Sound [u]

French sound Similar English sound French letters and letter combinations

vowel [u]

[u] as in the word book

ou

The French [u] is a bit more rounded than the English [u]. Your tongue should touch your palate at the back of your mouth.

Exercise 9. Read and memorize the words:

ou [u] — or toujours [tuʒu:r] — always
[u] — where journal [ʒurnal] m — newspaper
nous [nu] — we douze [du:z] — twelve
rouge [ru:ʒ] m, f — red doux [du] m, douce [dus] f — sweet
vous [vu] — you (plural) beaucoup [boku] — much, many, a lot
sous [su] — under beaucoup de... [bokudə] — a lot of...
tous [tus] — all, every nouveau [nuvo] m, nouvelle [nuvɛl] f — new
jour [ʒu:r] m — day aujourd’hui [oʒurdɥi] — today

Sound [w]

French sound Similar English sound French letters and letter combinations

semi-vowel [w]

[w]

oi [wa]
oin [wɛ̃]
ou + pronounced vowel: [wi], [wɛ]

This sound is easy because you know it: wow, wild west. The same old [w].

Exercise 10. Read and memorize the words:

mois [mwa] m month, monthly
trois [trwa] — three
voilà [vwala] — here, there (it is) etc. used when showing to other people something that you have just made or got and are pleased with
soir [swa:r] m — evening
le soir [ləswa:r] — in the evening
noir [nwa:r] m, noire [nwa:r] f — black
savoir [savwa:r] — to know

pourquoi [purkwa] — why
oiseau [wazo] m — bird
oiseaux [wazo] — birds (plural form)
loin de... [lwɛ̃də] — far from...
moins [mwɛ̃] — less
oui [wi] — yes
silhouette [silwɛt] f — silhouette, outline, figure

Exercise 11. Read and translate:

Paul est notre nouveau directeur.

Il a beaucoup de livres.

Elle aime (like) beaucoup les fleurs.

Voilà mon chapeau noir et ma robe rouge.

Pierre cherche le journal sur la table et sous la table.

Elle est toujours triste et aujourd’hui elle pleure.

Aujourd’hui il pleut et la mer est moins calme.

Il veut savoir pourquoi elle pleure.

Cette ville est loin de Paris.

Le café est trop doux.

Le garçon veut savoir les noms de ces oiseaux.

Clé