The French alphabet has 26 letters.
It is similar to the English alphabet, but many of the letters are pronounced differently.
Letters of the French alphabet
Listen to the audio several times to get used to the sounds of French. Repeat the letters aloud as you listen.
Click a letter to hear its name.
Keep in mind that the pronunciation of a letter can change when it appears in a word. You will learn more about how French letters and combinations of letters are pronounced in future lessons.
Listen and recognize the letters
Now listen to some letters without looking at the alphabet.
Try to identify each letter before revealing the answer.
Show the letters
A, E, I, O
Show the letters
B, C, D, G
Show the letters
P, T, V, J
Show the letters
F, L, M, N
Show the letters
K, Q, R, S
Show the letters
H, U, W, X
Show the letters
Y, Z, I, U
Accents and other marks
French also uses accent marks and the cédille. These marks do not create extra letters. É, for example, is still the letter e.
You will see these forms in written French:
| Letter | Forms you may see |
|---|---|
| e | é, è, ê, ë |
| a | à, â |
| i | î, ï |
| o | ô |
| u | ù, û, ü |
| c | ç |
You can already see some of these forms in words that will appear in this Part:
| French | What to notice |
|---|---|
| café | é is a form of e |
| français | ç is a form of c |
You'll learn what these marks do as you encounter them in words.
Letters can have different pronunciations
Knowing the name of a letter does not tell you exactly how that letter will sound in a French word.
For example, the letter C has the name cé, but its pronunciation changes in words such as café and cinéma.
You will learn these sound and spelling patterns separately. The alphabet gives you the starting point: you can recognize the letters French uses and know what they are called.