E

French vowel

The letter E has several different pronunciations in French. The explanation and equivalents provided here are based on the closest sounds that exist in American English, which are sometimes not very close at all. IPA symbols are provided in [brackets].

1. [ə] – the unstressed e, called a "schwa" in both French and English, is commonly found in French at the beginning of multi-syllable words as well as in single-syllable words. It’s also known as e muet or e instable and its pronunciation is often optional.

schwa sound
le		the
debout		standing
samedi		Saturday

  In English, the schwa can be spelled with any vowel: pencil, pollen, about, etc.

2. [e] – the closed e sound, which is always found in open syllables.* The closest English sound is the long a as in "name," but that’s a diphthong: [eI] which starts out like the French [e] but ends in a sort of y sound. In contrast, the French open e sound is just the first part: [e]. It may be spelled é (e accent aigu) anywhere within a word, but there are numerous other spellings, especially at the end of a word.

closed e sound
été		summer
vous avez		you have
freiner		to brake

3. [ɛ] – the open e sound is found mainly in closed syllables.* It may be spelled e,  è (e accent grave), or  ê (e accent circonflexe) and is equivalent to English’s short e sound, as in "set."

open e sound
elle		she
sept		seven
la tête		head
très		very

  * Lesson: Open / closed vowels and open / closed syllables

E is the only French vowel that can take all four accents.

 Related lessons

• Letter combinations: EAU | EI | EIL | EIN | EN | EU | EUIL | OE | Œ | ŒIL | UE | UEIL
• E muet
• Introduction to vowels
• French alphabet
• Accents

 Share / Tweet / Pin Me!