Accents & Diacritics
French accents and diacritics change pronunciation and meaning, so they matter for clear writing and speech. This guide covers each mark with brief examples.
Accent aigu (é)
The accent aigu appears only on e and signals a clear "ay" sound as in école. It often marks past participles and distinguishes words.
| French Word | English Word | French Word | English Word |
|---|---|---|---|
| école | school | été | summer/been |
| parler | to speak | parlé | spoken/said |
| élève | student | éléphant | elephant |
| café | coffee | forêt | forest |
| marché | market/marketed | clé | key |
| French Example | English Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|
| ☕ J’ai commandé un café étoilé. | I ordered a starry coffee. | Café with accent aigu |
| 🥐 Émilie a pris un croissant. | Emilie took a croissant. | Initial é sound |
| 📧 J’ai écrit un mail au barista. | I wrote an email to the barista. | Past participle é |
| 🏷️ Le prix est marqué évidemment. | The price is marked obviously. | Adverb with é |
Sign In
Add an email to access exercises.
Accent grave (è, à, ù)
The accent grave appears on e, a, and u. On e it changes pronunciation to an open "eh" sound as in père. On à and ù it distinguishes words like à (to) versus a (has) and où (where) versus ou (or).
| French Word | English Word | French Word | English Word |
|---|---|---|---|
| père | father | mère | mother |
| café | coffee | château | castle |
| à | to/at | a | has |
| où | where | ou | or |
| très | very | près | near |
| French Example | English Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 🍰 La tarte èveillait tous les sens. | The tart awakened all the senses. | Tarte with è |
| 🪑 Je me suis assis à la terrasse. | I sat at the terrace. | Preposition à |
| 💧 Ùn verre d’eau, s’il vous plaît. | A glass of water, please. | Stylized use of ù |
| 🎟️ Le ticket est à double entrée. | The ticket is for double entry. | à in phrase |
Sign In
Add an email to access exercises.
Accent circonflexe (â, ê, î, ô, û)
The accent circonflexe can appear on a, e, i, o, u and often signals a historical letter that was dropped, sometimes changes pronunciation, and can distinguish homophones. It gives a slightly longer or altered vowel sound.
| French Word | English Word | French Word | English Word |
|---|---|---|---|
| forêt | forest | hôpital | hospital |
| pâte | dough | fête | party |
| île | island | hôtel | hotel |
| mûr | ripe | sûr | sure |
| coût | cost | goût | taste |
| French Example | English Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 🍵 Le thé ârimait avec les éclairs. | The tea rhymed with the éclairs. | Thé with â |
| 🧺 J’ai pris un panier d’êclairs. | I took a basket of éclairs. | Plural with ê |
| 🗺️ Île charmante au coin du café. | Charming island at the corner of the café. | î in île |
| 🧴 Le flacon d’eau ôrange sent bon. | The bottle of orange water smells nice. | ô in orange |
| 🧑🌾 Le ûnier travaillait tôt ce matin. | The farmer worked early this morning. | û in fermier (stylized) |
Sign In
Add an email to access exercises.
Tréma (ë, ï, ü)
The tréma shows that two vowels are pronounced separately rather than as a single sound, as in naïf (na-eef) or Noël (No-el). It appears on ë, ï, ü and guides pronunciation in names and common words.
| French Word | English Word | French Word | English Word |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noël | Christmas | Haïti | Haiti |
| naïf | naive | maïs | corn |
| ambigüe | ambiguous | aiguë | sharp (fem.) |
| Israël | Israel | Zoë | Zoe (name) |
| rehausse | enhances |
| French Example | English Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 🍨 La crème ïvrée de vanille fondait. | The cream drunk with vanilla melted. | Tréma on i |
| 🎶 Ün air léger flottait sur la place. | A light tune floated over the square. | Tréma on u |
| 🥖 Le pain ëpiçait l’air du matin. | The bread spiced the morning air. | Tréma on e |
| 📖 Noël est toujours une fête ïmaginée. | Christmas is always an imagined celebration. | ë in Noël, ï in imaginée |
Sign In
Add an email to access exercises.
Cédille (ç)
The cédille appears only under c as ç to signal a soft "s" sound before a, o, u where it would normally be hard. It turns c into /s/ in words like garçon and leçon.
| French Word | English Word | French Word | English Word |
|---|---|---|---|
| garçon | boy | leçon | lesson |
| façade | facade | reçu | received |
| français | French | pièce | piece |
| ça | that/it | maçon | mason |
| début | start |
| French Example | English Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 🥗 La sauce çipait les feuilles de salade. | The sauce zipped through the salad leaves. | Cédille on c |
| 🧴 Ça brille sous le soleil du matin. | That shines under the morning sun. | Ça with cédille |
| 🗣️ Le serveur lui a dit : « Ça marche ! » | The waiter said to him: “That works!” | Colloquial phrase |
| 🔄 Recommenç*ons avec une autre table. | Let’s start again with another table. | Cédille in recommençons |
Sign In
Add an email to access exercises.
Summary
Accents guide pronunciation and meaning: use accent aigu (é) for "ay" sounds; accent grave (è, à, ù) to open vowels and distinguish words; accent circonflexe (â, ê, î, ô, û) for length/historical letters; tréma (ë, ï, ü) to separate vowel sounds; and cédille (ç) to soften c before a/o/u. Paying attention to these marks makes French clear and precise.
Last updated: Sun Sep 14, 2025