We have encountered the silent “h” sound in French, e.g., “heure” /euя/ (hour). In addition, we saw how the letter “e” can be silent in many words, e.g., “acheter” /a-sh(ə)-te/ (to buy). In addition, the final “e” in most multi-syllable words tends to be silent unless it is accented, e.g., “sucre” /sµkя/ (sugar), “père” /peя/ (father), etc.
You may have also noticed that the final consonant(s) is(are) often silent in many French words, e.g., “trop” /tяo/ (too much), “temp” /tã/ (time), etc. The general rule is to assume that the final consonant is silent. However, there are many exceptions to this rule.
Silent Final Consonant Rules
The following notes can help you determine when to treat the final consonant of a French word as silent or pronounce it:
1. The letters “j,” “v,” and “w” are seldom found in French except in some foreign names, in which case they are likely pronounced.
2. The letters “b,” “k,” and “q” are found at the end of very few words in French. In most of these words, they are pronounced. Examples include: “club” /klµb/ (club), “biftek” /beef-tek/ (steak), “cinq” /sĩk/ (five), and “coq” /kok/ (rooster). One notable exception is “plomb” /plõ/ (lead).
3. The letter “g” is generally pronounced when it is a final consonant of an English loanword. For example, “blog” /blog/, “iceberg” /ayz-beяg/, “parking” /paя-keeng/, “meeting” /mee-teeng/, etc. The main exception of this rule is when it forms the nasal sound “ng” in non-“-ing” suffixes. For example, “long” /lõ/ (long), “sang” /sã/ (blood), etc.
4. The letters “n” and “m” often result in a nasal sound when they come at the end of a word. For example, “un” /ĩ/ (a/an), “balcon” /bal-kõ/ (balcony), “nom” /nõ/ (name), “parfum” /paя-fĩ/ (perfume), etc. There are some notable exceptions, such as: “abdomen” /ab-do-men/ (abdomen), “Amen” /a-men/ (Amen), “forum” /fo-яµm/ (forum), and “cadmium” /cad-myµm/ (cadmium).
5. The final consonants “c,” “r,” “f,” and “l” tend to be pronounced especially in short words of one or two syllables. The four letters are often remembered using the word “CaReFuL.” Here are some examples and exceptions for each case:
| Pronounced (Often) | Silent (Exceptions) | |
| c | “avec” (with), “bloc” (block), “sac” (bag), “truc” (trick) | “estomac” (stomach), “porc” (pork), “blanc” (white), “tronc” (trunk) |
| r | “cher” (expensive), “clair” (clear), “fier” (proud), “mer” (sea) | Infinitive of “-er” verbs, e.g., “parler” (to speak) |
| f | “actif” (active), “chef” (chef), “neuf” (nine), “œuf” (egg), “soif” (thirst) | “clef” (key), “nerf” (nerve) |
| l | “avril” (April), “bol” (bowl), “hôtel” (hotel), “il” (he), “nul” (nul) | “gentil” (kind), “outil” (tool), vowel + “il”: “accueil” (welcome), “œil” (eye) |
6. The final consonants “d,” “p,” “s,” “t,” “x,” and “z” are often silent with a few exceptions. Here are some examples and exceptions for each case:
| Silent (Often) | Pronounced (Exceptions) | |
| d | “canard” (duck), “chaud” (hot), “froid” (cold), “grand” (big), | “sud” (south), proper names: “David”, “Alfred”, etc. |
| p | “beaucoup” (a lot), “champ” (field), “drap” (sheet), “loup” (wolf) | “cap” (cape), “slip” (underpants) |
| s | “bas” (down), “les” (the), “nous” (we), “temps” (time), “trois” (three) | “autobus” (bus), “fils” (son), “ours” (bear), “tennis” (tennis) |
| t | “abricot” (apricot), “et” (and), “minuit” (midnight), “petit” (small), “poulet” (chicken), “salut” (hi) | “brut” (raw), “est” (east), “ouest” (west), –ct ending: e.g., “direct” (direct), –pt ending: e.g., “sept” (seven) |
| x | “choix” (choice), “deux” (two), “époux” (spouse), “prix” (price) | “six” (six), “dix” (ten), “index” (index) |
| z | “chez” (at the place of), “riz” (rice), “parlez” (you speak) | “gaz” (gas) |
7. The third-person plural verb conjugation suffix “-ent” in the present indicative tense is always silent. For example, “ils parlent” /eel paяl/ (they speak).
Other lessons in Level I:
