French consonant
The letter C has two pronunciations:
1) Soft – In front of a soft vowel, C is pronounced like the S in "say." Phonetic symbol: [s]
 |
Par exemple… |
| the letter c | |||
| une cerise | cherry | ||
| merci | thank you | ||
2) Hard – In front of a hard vowel or a consonant, C is pronounced like a K. Phonetic symbol: [k]
|
Par exemple… |
| le cadeau | gift | |
| le sucre | sugar |
When C precedes a hard vowel but needs a soft pronunciation, ç (cédille) is added to make it soft. That’s why ç is only used in front of the hard vowels A, O, or U, never in front of the soft vowels E, I, or Y.
|
Par exemple… |
| ça va ? | how are you? | |
| le reçu | receipt |
See Hard and soft vowels for more info.
Related lessons
- Letter combinations: CH | SC | TCH | XC
- Consonants
- Hard and soft vowels
- Vowels
- IPA symbols
- French alphabet
En español
In italiano
Share / Tweet / Pin Me!
This free website is created with love and a great deal of work. If you love it, please consider making a 
Fear of speaking, glossophobia, is one of the most common phobias – even just in one’s native language. If you feel nervous when speaking French, it’s probably due to a lack of confidence in your skills. The obvious solution is to improve your French, but there are also other ways to increase your confidence and feel more comfortable speaking French.
Learn how to translate French infinitives, imperatives, and participles into English.