French Liaisons - Lawless French Pronunciation

Connecting Sounds

In French, when a word ending in a normally silent consonant is followed by a vowel or h muet, that consonant might be transferred onto the next word. This euphonic technique is called a liaison and it’s one of the aspects of French pronunciation that can make it difficult to determine where one word ends and the next begins.

Par exemple…

ont	[o(n)]		ont-ils	[o(n) teel]	~~[o(n) eel]~~
un	[uh(n)]		un homme	[uh(n) nuhm]	~~[uh(n) uhm]~~

Letter	Sound
D	[t]
F	[v]
G	[g]
N	[n]
P	[p]
R	[r]
S	[z]
T	[t]
X	[z]
Z	[z]

Certain consonants offer a further complication: they change sound. The normally silent s at the end of vous is not pronounced [s] in a liaison, but rather like [z]. Other consonants have similar changes – see chart.

Par exemple…

vous	[voo]		vous avez	[voo zah vay]	~~[voo ah vay]~~
deux	[deu]		deux enfants	[deu za(n) fa(n)]	~~[deu a(n) fa(n)]~~

As if that’s not enough, some liaisons are required, others are optional, and still others are forbidden. Just because a normally silent consonant is followed by a vowel or mute h does not automatically mean that a liaison must or even can occur.