Liaisons obligatoires
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Liaisons between syntactically related words, such as an article and its noun, or a subject pronoun and its verb, are required. Of course, there are always exceptions, but here are the main types of required liaisons.
1. Nominal group
a) | Article + noun or adjective | |
les amis | [lay zah mee] | |
les anciens élèves | [lay za(n) syeh(n) zay lehv] | |
b) | Number + noun or adjective | |
un homme | [uh(n) nuhm] | |
deux enfants | [deu za(n) fa(n)] | |
c) | Adjective + noun or adjective | |
les anciens élèves | [lay za(n) syeh(n) zay lehv] | |
mes élèves | [may zay lev] | |
petit ami | [peu tee tah mee] |
2. Verbal group
a) | Pronoun + pronoun | |
Nous en avons | [noo za(n) nah vo(n)] | |
b) | Pronoun + verb or adjective | |
Nous en avons | [noo za(n) nah vo(n)] | |
Ont-ils | [o(n) teel] | |
Vous avez | [voo zah vay] |
3. Single-syllable adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions*
bien étrange | [byeh nay tra(n)zh] |
chez elle | [shay zehl] |
quand on décidera | [ka(n) to(n) day see deh rah] |
tout entier | [too ta(n) tyay] |
très utile | [treh zu teel] |
4. Quand + est-ce que **
Quand est-ce que | [ka(n) teh skeu] |
5. Fixed expressions
Par exemple…
avant hier | [ah va(n) tyer] |
c’est-à-dire | [say tah deer] |
comment allez-vous ? | [ko ma(n) tah lay voo] |
plus ou moins | [plu zoo mwa(n)] |
Notes
* See exceptions in optional liaisons.
** Also see forbidden liaisons.
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