Day 2 · A1 · Lesson 2
Accents: little marks, big meaning
French accents aren't decoration. They change how a vowel sounds, tell apart words that look identical, and even hide English words. Learn all five marks, plus when French uses small letters where English uses capitals.
Cold guess
Before any rules, pick the spelling you think is right. Trust your gut. Your score is private. You'll get a fresh set at the end to compare.
Il ___ un chien.
He has a dog.
Je vais ___ Montréal.
I'm going to Montréal.
Thé ___ café ?
Tea or coffee?
___ est la gare ?
Where is the station?
Le livre est ___.
The book is there.
Elle est ___.
She is French.
Je parle ___.
I speak English.
le gar_on
the boy
No_l
Christmas
The ^ in la forêt replaces a missing…
Score: / 10
Why it matters
English speakers often treat French accents as optional decoration. They aren’t. They’re part of the spelling, and leaving one off (or adding a wrong one) can change the word completely.
Mon père est pêcheur.
My father is a fisherman.
Mon père est pécheur.
My father is a sinner. Same letters, different accent, very different Sunday lunch.
Où est le café ?
Where is the café?
Ou est le café ?
"Or is the café?" Nobody knows what you mean.
Accents do three jobs: they change how a vowel sounds, they tell apart words that would otherwise look identical, and they quietly remember old spellings, which often lets you spot the English word hiding inside. Once you see those three jobs, accents stop feeling random.
The five marks
1. The five marks at a glance
| Mark | Name | Its job | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| é | accent aigu | closed "ay" sound. Only ever on e. | le café, l'été, le médecin |
| è à ù | accent grave | on e: open "eh" sound · on a and u: tells words apart | la mère, très · à, là, où |
| â ê î ô û | accent circonflexe | often marks a lost s · on e: open "eh" sound | la forêt, l'hôpital, la fête |
| ë ï ü | tréma | "say both vowels separately" | Noël, le maïs, naïf |
| ç | cédille | makes c soft (s) before a, o, u | ça, le garçon, la leçon |
French accents have nothing to do with stress, the way a Spanish accent does. They never tell you which syllable to lean on. (French gives every syllable roughly the same weight, with a slight lift at the end of a phrase.)
2. Accents that change the sound
The plain letter e has three possible sounds, and the accent tells you which one:
| Spelling | Sound | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| é | closed "ay", with no "ee" glide at the end | le café, l'été, la clé |
| è, ê | open "eh", as in bed | la mère, très, la fête, la tête |
| e (no accent) | a soft "uh", or silent | le, je, petit, la table |
Why does merci sound like “mair-see” without an accent? Because an e followed by two consonants (merci, elle, belle) or by a final pronounced consonant (la mer, le chef) is automatically open. It doesn’t need an accent, and it never gets one. That’s why elle and merci are spelled without any marks.
The “ay” club. -é, -er, -ez and -ai at the end of a word all sound the same: mangé, manger, mangez are all “mahn-zhay”. Your ears can’t tell them apart; only the spelling can. That matters a lot from Lesson 12 onwards.
3. Accents that change the meaning
These pairs sound the same. The accent is the only way to tell them apart in writing:
| Without | With |
|---|---|
| a = has (from avoir) · Il a un chat. | à = at, to, in · Il va à Paris. |
| ou = or · Thé ou café ? | où = where · Où es-tu ? |
| la = the · la table | là = there · Il est là. |
| sur = on · sur la table | sûr = sure · Tu es sûr ? |
| du = some · du café | dû = had to, owed · Il a dû partir. |
| de = of, from · de Paris | dé = a dice · un dé |
Two tests settle the most common mix-ups. a or à? Swap in avait. If the sentence still makes sense, write a. ou or où? Swap in ou bien (or else). If it still works, write ou.
4. The lost-s trick
Centuries ago, many French words had an s that later fell silent and then disappeared from the spelling. French left a mark where it used to be, and English often kept the s. That gives you a code for reading:
| la forêt | forest |
|---|---|
| l'hôpital | hospital |
| la fête | feast (a party) |
| la côte | coast |
| l'île | isle |
| la bête | beast |
| honnête | honest |
| le coût | cost |
| l'école | school |
|---|---|
| l'étudiant | student |
| l'état | state |
| étrange | strange |
| l'épice | spice |
| l'éponge | sponge |
| l'écran | screen |
This is a reading superpower. Meet la tempête in a text? Put the s back: tempest, a storm. It won’t work for every accent, but it works often enough to save you a dictionary trip.
5. The cédille and the tréma
ç only ever appears before a, o or u. In front of those vowels a plain c sounds like k (le café, la côte). The little tail turns it into an s: ça, le garçon, la leçon, reçu. You never need it before e or i, where c is already soft (merci, ici). It matters most in verbs: commencer becomes nous commençons, so the c stays soft.
The tréma (two dots) means “don’t blend these vowels, say them one after the other”: Noël is “no-ell”, not “nole”. Le maïs (corn) is “ma-ees”, naïf is “na-eef”, égoïste is “ay-go-eest”.
6. Small letters where English uses capitals
While we’re on little marks: French uses far fewer capital letters than English. These are lowercase in French:
languages: le français, l'anglais
nationality adjectives: elle est canadienne
days and months: lundi 5 octobre
titles in a sentence: madame Dubois, le président
a person from a country: une Canadienne, les Français
countries, cities, rivers: le Canada, Montréal, la Seine
the start of a sentence, as in English
So: Elle est canadienne. Elle parle français. C’est une Canadienne. Adjective and language: small. Person: capital.
Accents stay on capital letters: ÉCOLE, À BIENTÔT. Some people leave them off when typing in capitals, but the official recommendation in both France and Québec is to keep them.
7. How to type them
| Device | How |
|---|---|
| Phone or tablet | Press and hold the letter (e, a, c…) and slide to the accented version. |
| Mac | Hold the key for a menu, or use Option shortcuts: Option+e then e = é · Option+` then e = è · Option+i then e = ê · Option+u then e = ë · Option+c = ç |
| Windows | Add the "Canadian Multilingual Standard" or "French (Canada)" keyboard in Settings. Or use Alt codes on the number pad: Alt+0233 = é · Alt+0232 = è · Alt+0234 = ê · Alt+0224 = à · Alt+0231 = ç |
Examples
- Il a un chien et il va à Toronto.He has a dog and he's going to Toronto. (a = has, à = to)
- Thé ou café ? Où est le sucre ?Tea or coffee? Where's the sugar? (ou = or, où = where)
- Le livre est là, sur la table.The book is there, on the table. (là = there, la = the)
- Tu es sûr ? Oui, sûr et certain.Are you sure? Yes, absolutely sure. (sûr = sure)
- Ma mère préfère le café.My mother prefers coffee. (è open, é closed)
- L'étudiant est à l'école.The student is at school. (two lost s's: student, school)
- La fête est dans la forêt.The party is in the forest. (feast, forest)
- Le garçon prend une leçon de français.The boy is taking a French lesson. (ç three times, français in lowercase)
- Noël arrive en décembre.Christmas comes in December. (tréma, and a lowercase month)
- Elle est canadienne et elle parle français.She's Canadian and she speaks French. (adjective and language: lowercase)
- C'est une Canadienne de Vancouver.She's a Canadian from Vancouver. (a person: capital)
- Nous commençons à huit heures.We start at eight. (the cédille keeps the c soft)
- J'ai mangé et je vais manger encore.I've eaten and I'm going to eat again. (mangé and manger sound the same)
Memory tricks
Aigu goes up, grave goes downThe aigu (é) leans up like a bright "ay!". The grave (è) leans down like a tired "eh…". Same e, different mood.
The hat where the s used to beWhen the s left the word, it left its hat behind: forêt (forest), hôpital (hospital), fête (feast). Put the s back and the English appears.
Initial é = s + consonantécole, étudiant, état, épice, écran: school, student, state, spice, screen. If a word starts with é + consonant, try an s in front.
Où is a one-word clubThe letter ù appears in exactly one French word: où (where). If you're writing ù anywhere else, stop.
The avait testNot sure between a and à? Swap in avait. "Il avait un chat" works, so a. "Il va avait Paris" doesn't, so à.
Two dots, two soundsThe tréma's two dots are two little mouths: say both vowels. No-ël, ma-ïs.
The ç sticks out its tongueThe cédille is a little tongue under the c, hissing "sss". It only shows up where a hard k would sneak in: before a, o, u.
Small adjective, big personShe is canadienne (small, describing her). She is une Canadienne (big, she's a person). Languages are always small: le français.
Don’t get French fried
Mark it right
Some of these test the sound, some the meaning, some the lost-s trick. Read each why.
Il habite ___ Paris.
He lives in Paris.
à = in, at, to. Try the test: 'Il habite avait Paris' makes no sense, so it's à.
Elle ___ trente ans.
She's thirty.
a = has (from avoir). 'Elle avait trente ans' works, so no accent.
Tu préfères le thé ___ le café ?
Do you prefer tea or coffee?
ou = or. If you can say 'ou bien' (or else), no accent.
Tu habites ___ ?
Where do you live?
où = where. Où is the only word in French that uses ù.
Viens ___ !
Come here!
là = there, here. la = the.
Le chat est ___ la table.
The cat is on the table.
sur = on. sûr = sure.
Tu es ___ ?
Are you sure?
sûr = sure. The hat changes the word.
What English word hides in la forêt?
The circumflex marks a lost s: forêt = fore(s)t.
What English word hides in l'hôpital?
hôpital = ho(s)pital.
What English word hides in l'école?
An é at the start of a word often replaces an old s: école = (s)chool.
What English word hides in l'étudiant?
étudiant = (s)tudent. Same trick.
é sounds like…
é is the closed sound: café, été. Keep your mouth still, don't slide into 'ee'.
è sounds like…
è (and ê) are the open sound: mère, fête.
Does à sound different from a?
The accent on à, ù and là only separates words. The sound stays the same.
maïs (corn) is said…
The tréma means both vowels are said separately.
Nous ___ à huit heures.
We start at eight.
c before o would sound like k. The cédille keeps it soft: commençons.
C'est un ___ de Toronto.
He's a Canadian from Toronto.
Here it's a person (a noun), so it takes a capital.
Il est ___.
He is Canadian.
Here it's an adjective describing him, so lowercase.
Rendez-vous ___ 5 octobre.
See you on Monday 5 October.
Days and months are lowercase in French.
Score: / 19
The whole lesson on one card
| é (aigu) | closed "ay": café, été · at the start of a word, often a lost s: école = school, étudiant = student |
|---|---|
| è ê (grave, circumflex) | open "eh": mère, très, fête, la tête |
| à ù là (grave) | no change in sound, they tell words apart: a / à, ou / où, la / là |
| â ê î ô û (circumflex) | often a lost s: forêt = forest, hôpital = hospital, côte = coast · also tells words apart: sur / sûr, du / dû |
| ë ï (tréma) | say both vowels separately: Noël, maïs, naïf |
| ç (cédille) | soft s before a, o, u: ça, garçon, leçon, nous commençons |
| Capitals | lowercase: languages, nationality adjectives, days, months · capital: a person or a place: un Canadien, le Canada |
| Quick tests | a or à? if avait fits, write a · ou or où? if ou bien fits, write ou |
Your turn to talk
Say it out loud and make the two e sounds different (open 'eh' in pêcheur, closed 'ay' in pécheur). Then say where you are right now, using à or où.
Did it stick?
A fresh set. Each answer tells you why.
Elle ___ un appartement.
She has an apartment.
a = has. 'Elle avait un appartement' works.
On se voit ___ midi ?
See you at noon?
à = at.
___ habites-tu ?
Where do you live?
Où = where.
Lundi ___ mardi ?
Monday or Tuesday?
ou = or.
Je suis ___ que c'est ici.
I'm sure it's here.
sûr = sure.
Il a ___ partir.
He had to leave.
dû = had to (from devoir). du = some, of the.
Je bois ___ café.
I'm drinking some coffee.
du = some.
What English word hides in la côte?
côte = coa(s)t.
What English word hides in étrange?
Initial é = lost s: (s)trange.
Mes amis sont ___.
My friends are Mexican.
Nationality adjective = lowercase.
la le_on
the lesson
c before o needs the cédille to sound like s.
Which one is spelled correctly?
An e before two consonants already sounds like "eh", so it needs no accent.
Score: / 12