In this French lesson, you will learn to read the letters o, ô, au, eau, on, om, ou, où, oi, oin.
o, Ô, ô, au, eau = [o] (like in “door”)
The letter o is pronounced as [o] at the end of a word, before a silent consonant, or before the sound [z].
The circumflex accent ˆ over 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 commonly written as O.
The letter combinations au, eau are exceptionally pronounced as [ɔ] in the following cases: Paul [pɔl] – Paul (male name), mauvais [mɔvɛ] m, mauvaise [mɔvɛ:z] f – bad
métro [métro] m — subway, metro
eau [о] f — water
dos [do] m — back
mot [mo] m — word
trop [tro] — too much, very
tôt [to] — early
beau [bo] m — beautiful, handsome
peau [po] f — skin
chaud [ʃo] m, chaude [ʃo:d] f — warm, hot
pauvre [po:vr] m, f — poor
cadeau [kado] m — gift, present
chapeau [ʃapo] m — hat
tableau [tablo] m — picture, painting
rose [ro:z] — 1) m, f pink; 2) f rose
il faut [ilfo] — it is necessary, must
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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.
on, om = [ɔ̃] (like in “long”)
The letter combinations on, om are pronounced as [ɔ̃] either when they appear at the end of a syllable or when they are followed by a consonant letter, but not m or n.
mon [mɔ̃] m – my (used with masculine nouns)
ton [tɔ̃] m – your (used with masculine nouns)
son [sɔ̃] m – his/her/its (used with masculine nouns)
nom [nɔ̃] m – name; title; surname
sombre [sɔ̃br] m, f – dark
compliqué [kɔ̃plike] m, compliquée [kɔ̃plike] f – complicated
bon [bɔ̃] m – good; tasty
long [lɔ̃] m, longue [lɔ̃:g] f – long
bonbon [bɔ̃bɔ̃] m – candy
garçon [garsɔ̃] m – boy
pont [pɔ̃] m – bridge
leçon [ləsɔ̃] f – lesson
maison [mɛzɔ̃] f – house
raconter [rakɔ̃te] – to tell, to narrate
montrer [mɔ̃tre] – to show
profession [prɔfɛsjɔ̃] f – profession
agression [agrɛsjɔ̃] f – aggression
monotone [mɔnɔtɔn] – ton [tɔ̃],
sonner [sɔne] – son [sɔ̃],
bonne [bɔn] – bon [bɔ̃],
téléphone [telefɔn] – garçon [garsɔ̃],
fromage [frɔma:ʒ] – compliqué [kɔ̃plike],
pomme [pɔm] – pont [pɔ̃],
homme [ɔm] – sombre [sɔ̃br].
When the sound [ɔ̃] at the end of a word appears before a vowel in the next word, a sound [n] or [m] is inserted between [ɔ̃] and the following vowel – depending on what is written in the word with the sound [ɔ̃]. For example:
bon appétit! [bɔ̃napeti] – enjoy your meal!
mon nom est… [mɔ̃nɔ̃mɛ] – my name is…
Le bonbon est bon.
La salle est sombre.
Cette affaire est trop compliquée.
Mon nom est Paul.
Le pont est long.
Elle veut montrer sa maison.
Le garçon peut rester ici.
Il faut répéter la leçon.
Ton père est écrivain.
Son ami a deux sœurs.
The letter combination tion at the end of French nouns is pronounced as [sjɔ̃], for example: nation [nasjɔ̃] f – nation. Only the word question [kɛstjɔ̃] f – question does not follow this rule.
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
ou, où = [u] (like in “pool”)
ou [u] – or
où [u] – where
nous [nu] – we, us
rouge [ru:ʒ] m, f – red
vous [vu] – you (plural/formal)
sous [su] – under
tous [tus] – all
jour [ʒu:r] m – day
toujours [tuʒu:r] – always
journal [ʒurnal] m – newspaper
douze [du:z] – twelve
doux [du] m, douce [dus] f – sweet
beaucoup [boku] – much, very
beaucoup de… [bokudə] – many…, lots of…
nouveau [nuvo] m, nouvelle [nuvɛl] f – new
aujourd’hui [oʒurdɥi] – today
oi [wa] – pronounced as “wa”
oin [wɛ̃] – pronounced as “weh” with nasal sound
ou + pronounced vowel: [wi], [wɛ] – pronounced as “wee”, “weh”
mois [mwa] m – month (unit of time)
trois [trwa] – three
voilà [vwala] – here is, there is
soir [swa:r] m – evening
le soir [ləswa:r] – in the evening
noir [nwa:r] m, noire [nwa:r] f – black (masculine/feminine)
savoir [savwa:r] – to know (verb)
pourquoi [purkwa] – why
oiseau [wazo] m – bird
oiseaux [wazo] – birds (plural form)
loin de… [lwɛ̃də] – far from…
moins [mwɛ̃] – less, fewer
oui [wi] – yes (expression of agreement)
silhouette [silwɛt] f – silhouette
Paul est notre nouveau directeur.
Il a beaucoup de livres.
Elle aime 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.