Improve Your French Pronunciation - What Not To Pronounce!

Tutorial Transcript

hey guys my name is Pierre and I'm from France and welcome to this listen to this listen we'll be about what not to pronounce in French you know French is really annoying the way you say it and the way you write it it's really different and I'm here to show you that it's not that hard if you know the basics so first I would like to introduce you to the common silent letters first there is this letter H this is maybe the most common one in French H has no pronunciation there is no aspiration and like English when you see H alone it's always silent in French for example in um which means man you don't say the H same for ICO which means beans or for which is the French way to say when you're hesitating then there is this combination CH and when there is this combination you have to say it it's almost never silent for example shuttle which means horse and then a shake which means chess but of course in French there are many exceptions and there are those two words or exceptions echo which means echo like in English and Co howl which means coral like in English H is silent here you have to say just the C echo cahal don't focus too much on those exceptions because usually it's always never silence but if you really want some examples just try to remember those two because maybe there are the most common ones but don't focus too much on exceptions again then let's move on to the next letter which is or this letter is quite like never silent but in some cases like when you see the combination e or in verbs you have not to say the or it's always silent for example in the verb madre which means eat or partly to speak you have to say the or it's always that for the verbs which or with E or then you've got some other words that are using the same rule like premier just try to remember this one it means first and here you don't have to say the or let's move on to the next letter which is X this one is really easy there are three patterns that you have to remember and then after that you're done it's really easy those patterns or whoa whoa you see I don't say the X what oh it's always silent here are some examples voice oh ah in French no X ways Oh which is the plural for birds so like many birds usually you don't have X but he here it's like a plural the plural form and then over which is the adjective for happy many adjectives have this termina ism and you have to say it and you have not to say X let's move on to the next category which is SCPD category it's almost always silence when it's at the end of a word to remember that here is a kind of little trick for you you can think that French is stupid and in this word you see all the letters that are almost always silent as T P D stupid so here is an example Laputa lu emission which means the little wolf is nasty so here there is pity you don't say the T Luke you don't say the P a which is kind of an exception here you see s and T and you don't have to say it just for the verb to be so just remember that when you see est this is a common question don't say the s and T but usually when you see the word test which means East you have to say it so this rule is only when you see one letter at the end when you see more than two two letters this is different and then there is mission G if you don't say the T but of course there are exceptions and here are the two main exceptions that you have to remember when you say son this you have to say the s and then there is this little tricky word proofs sometimes blue you don't say it you don't say the S but when you say the the when you say the word please as more you mean more you have to say it please so when there is the S it means more when there is not this s like when you say just blue but it's the same writing you don't it means less so this is a kind of tricky word and then there is this combination with s s is off is often the mark of the pre-roll but sometimes it's not and you also don't have to pronunciate when you add it after P T or D so here are some examples top which means time D boo which is the plural form for pieces d boo you add the S because of the floral and you don't say me you don't say T or s and then there is D to pop which is you take and always when you conjugate verbs you often have D and s and you don't say it so this or the main letters that are silent STP D French is stupid then you've got some letters that are sometimes silence sometimes they are not so you just have to remember which words or like that those letters or bc f GJ l z so here or some examples like maybe the main ones just try to remember them and then only experience will help you to know which word are not silent blue which means plum you don't say the be like B it's quite rare usually you don't have words will be at the end of the word then you have poor which means pork or peak there is this C and you don't say it but then this adjective Shanthi with the L you don't say it but usually words that ends with an L you have to say it so this one is really a big exception not see click is safe key and dear there is an F but you don't say it that many words you have to say the F so remember that then for J know it means long so in English you have to say the G in French you don't say it and then this one Z you often not say it in French but sometimes you have to say it here you don't say it shape which means that I'm going to my place I'm going to your place to translation for to nape which means nose V for rice and a say for enough so here are some examples that you have to remember so so far we've seen five different patterns H or X if you see H alone or in E or only in verbs and in the in the adjective premier and X in those three patterns wha-oh you have to be silent you don't say those letters so this is the first the three letters that are important for you to remember and then there is s T P and D which is almost always silent so this is the main one that you have remember in addition to those ones STP and D French is stupid and then you've got those letters that are more tricky bc f j LZ and you have to remember some examples and if you really have to remember one category I think you should really remember with the D because there are many words with these exceptions let's move on to the training part here are some sentences I'm gonna read them and you will see which letters or not or or silence try by yourself before I'm gonna say it so here is the first one did you try okay the answer is illness oompah is a single in new Simpa is a signal so here there is this s that is silent and there is this T and this s is not silent due to the liaison which is introduced by the this vowel a in the next lesson I'm gonna deal with the French liaison so don't worry about that for now it's only come on silent letters so you have to say it here but usually it's silent so don't worry for that and then there is the Z and the D and s that are silent in news wampa is a signal which means they are not big enough you know some pop is a signal let's move on to the next one did you try okay the answer is juice Reserve that removal just reserve that removal so here again there is a liaison because H is silent and here it there is a vowel but don't worry about that here X and X you don't have to say it just Reserve that removal it means I'm happy to be in love I'm happy to be in love just reserve that removal next one this one is a bit longer try by yourself the answer is le shovel core private calibre le shovel could prove it calibre le shovel who proved it Kelly boot here there is an S you don't say it here there is an ax-hewn say it the T here the S here even though it means more you don't say it because here there is an adjective after that and when you say plus with an adjective blue with an adjective if there is no vowel you don't say it so here prove it this s and then boom you don't say the F and you don't say this but please be careful when there is no s at the end of booth you have to say the F Beth but here you don't say it this sentence means the horses ran faster than the cows which is in French le shovel who prove it curly boot then there is this sentence try by yourself the answer is Mission Control may show some form it means my hair or too long and hear all the words have a silent letters may should sort follow me should not follow and this one now try by yourself exactly please do toe cap very cheaply press the toe cap flavor so here there is this sign on s but here you have to say it gibberish note on more time so you have to say it's different even though here it's more but it's with an adjective here it spruce alone so you have to say it because it means more then there is stop pnsu don't say it and this is fine she proved the talkative I took more time than expected JP Bruce d'etat keep clear then the last one try by yourself this one is a little bit tricky so the answer is I less to the back yeah then what you proceed a less to the back in the end what Kim pussy so here you can see that I have to say est because it's not the verb to be it's not the verb at its East so in French you have to say SMT here so a list I let's do the back here again there is a seat but you have to say it this is not one of the word I wanted you to remember so back you have to say it Ilia did you don't say it no up here again there is the pattern o IX so you don't say it keep here there is this silent T and then to say I left to do back yeah then what Kim pussy at the eastern part of the park some nuts started to grow I left to do back in yeah then what Kim pussy so did you try and did you manage to do it it's ok if you don't have a perfect score just it's practice you need to learn and it's like pay its it's normal to fail so you can watch this video again and try the sentences again and remember all those patterns next listen I will introduce you to the French liaison but for now it's only silent letters that's all for today if you liked the video please leave a comment on the sections below or you can eat that like button or share this video with your friend if you haven't subscribed yet you can do it the burden is done below and if you want some more resources on learning French go to our website French bawd 101.com you will see many French lessons and I hope to see you again for more French lessons bye guys