In this French lesson, you will learn to read the letters i, î, ï, ill, il, y.
I, i, Î, î, ï, Y, у = [i] (like in “see”)
The capital letter Î is more commonly written as I.
The letter ï does not form combinations with other letters, for example, faïence [fajãs], égoïste [egɔist], which means the rule for combinations ai and oi is broken. It occurs very rarely.
il [il] – he, it (used for French masculine nouns)
île [il] – island
idée [ide] – idea
Yves [i:v] – Yves (male name)
ici [isi] – here
fils [fis] – son (the letter l in this word is silent)
type [tip] – type
vite [vit] – quickly
mille [mil] – thousand
ville [vil] – city
Lille [lil] – Lille (city in France)
livre [li:vr] – book
libre [libr] – free
ami [ami] – friend (male)
amie [ami] – friend (female)
mari [mari] – husband
parti [parti] – party
midi [midi] – south; noon
Paris [pari] – Paris m
erci [mɛrsi] – thank you
triste [trist] – sad
lycée [lise] – high school
pyramide [piramid] – pyramid
système [sistɛm] – system
cette idée [sɛtide] – this idea
ses idées [sezide] – his/her ideas
il est libre [ilɛlibr] – he is free
elle est libre [ɛlɛlibr] – she is free
mes amies [mezami] – my (female) friends
les villes [levil] – cities
dîner [dine] – to dine
décider [deside] – to decide
terminer [tɛrmine] – to finish
imiter [imite] – to imitate
arriver [arive] – to arrive
visiter [vizite] – to visit
dire [di:r] – to say, to tell
lire [li:r] – to read
rire [ri:r] – to laugh
vivre [vi:vr] – to live
finir [fini:r] – to finish
In the French alphabet, there is a letter that is never pronounced and therefore called silent – h, capital letter – H.
habiter [abite] – to live
hiver [ivɛ:r] – winter
trahir [trai:r] – to betray
habile [abil] – skillful
hybride [ibrid] – hybrid
hymne [imn] – anthem
hésiter [ezite] – to hesitate
ill, il, i = [j] (like in “yes”)
Exceptions: mille [mil] – thousand, ville [vil] – city, Lille [lil] – Lille.
The letter combination il is pronounced as [j] after a pronounced vowel, for example: détail [detaj] – detail.
The letter i is pronounced as [j] before a pronounced vowel, for example: rivière [rivjɛ:r] – river.
famille [famij] – family
fille [fij] – daughter
il travaille [iltravaj] – he works
travail [travaj] – work
détail [detaj] – detail
pièce [pjɛs] – room
ciel [sjɛl] – sky
Pierre [pjɛ:r] – Pierre (male name)
pierre [pjɛ:r] – stone
hier [jɛ:r] – yesterday
rivière [rivjɛ:r] – river
marié [marje] – married (male)
mariée [marje] – married (female)
The letters s, t, d at the end of words are typically silent.
après [aprɛ] — после
très [trɛ] — очень
mais [mɛ] — но (союз)
ils [il] — они (употребляется вместо французских слов мужского рода)
elles [ɛl] — они (употребляется вместо французских слов женского рода)
les hivers [lezivɛ:r] — зи́мы
bas [ba] — низкий, -ая, -ое (при французских словах мужского рода)
lait [lɛ] — молоко
tard [ta:r] — поздно
il est prêt [ilɛprɛ] — он готов
elle est prête [ɛlɛprɛt] — она готова
The letter s at the end of the word très is pronounced as [z] before words beginning with a vowel or silent h, for example:
très avare [trɛzava:r] – very miserly
très habile [trɛzabil] – very skillful.