Accents and diacritics in French guide pronunciation, meaning, and sometimes grammatical function; paying attention to them helps learners sound natural and avoid confusion.
Overview
French uses several diacritics that appear consistently on certain vowels or letters and affect how a word is pronounced or understood.
In French, an accent can change a word's meaning or pronunciation.
Accent Aigu (é)
The accent aigu (´) appears only on e and signals a clear, sharp /e/ sound as in école; it often marks the past participle in verbs ending in -er.
Examples
Accent Grave (è)
The accent grave (`) appears on e, a, and u and changes pronunciation or distinguishes meaning; on e it signals an open /ɛ/ sound as in mère.
Examples
Accent Circonflexe (ê)
The accent circonflexe (ˆ) can appear on a, e, i, o, or u and often indicates a historical s that was dropped; it can affect pronunciation and sometimes distinguishes meaning.
Examples
Tréma (ë)
The tréma (¨) appears on vowels to show that they are pronounced separately rather than as a diphthong, as in Noël where the o and e sound in distinct syllables.
Examples
Cédille (ç)
The cédille (¸) appears under c to signal a soft /s/ sound before a, o, or u where it would normally be hard /k/, as in façon.
Examples
Summary
Accents and diacritics consistently guide pronunciation and meaning, so learning them helps with reading aloud and avoiding errors; paying attention to each type ensures clearer French.
Last updated: Fri Oct 24, 2025