French pronunciation
The letter combination en has four possible pronunciations, depending on the letters that precede and follow it.
1. At the end of a syllable after é, i, or y, en is pronounced like the nasal vowel [ɛ̃].
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2. After any other letter or on its own (when it’s a preposition or adverbial pronoun), en is pronounced like the nasal vowel [ɑ̃].
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3. When the n is doubled at the end of a syllable, it’s pronounced [ɛn].
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4. At the beginning of a word, en is usually pronounced like 2.
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But in a few words the two letters are pronounced separately: [e] is the first syllable, then [n] begins the second syllable.
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Of course, it’s always pronounced this way when the e has an acute accent:
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