Le Son A• Two distinctive A sounds but A has other sounds

when combined with other letters. There are 10 different sounds.

To make the sound: Rest the front of your tongue just behind your bottom teeth. The blade should be raised slightly. The sound is made low down in the front of the mouth. It is a front vowel. Lips are open and quite relaxed

• French a is pronounced as in English apple and Paris. It has this pronunciation wherever it falls in a word• la (the), ma (my)• plat(flat)• animal (animal)

Le Deuxième Son

• The a is sometimes pronounced further back in the mouth like ah, art, alms in English and with the lips more rounded than for the a sound described previously: This sound is becoming obsolete, but technically should be pronounced when the letter a

• is followed by a z sound -base, gaz• is followed by a silent s -bas, cas (exception: bras)• has an accent circonflexe -pâtes, âne

A grave accent over the letter tells you there is another word with the same spelling but a different meaning: a (has) à (to, at). It is not telling you how to pronounce it.

French Symbol Approximate English Equivalent

French word

an ahN O = fond Grand (grahN) = Big/large

am ahN O = fond Ambitieux(ahN-bee-syuh) = ambitious

French Symbol Approximate English Equivalent

French word

ain aN slang Le pain (luh paN) = Bread

aim aN slang La faim(lah faN) = hunger

au = {o} as in hope: au (to), eau(water), autre(other)Ay = {e} as in pay: pays (country), essayer (to try)

Like the e sound set or ten