S

French consonant

The letter S has two pronunciations in French as in English. The French pronunciation of S in any given word can be determined with specific rules.

Soft pronunciation

Phonetic symbol [s]

  • at the beginning of a word or syllable
  • at the end of a syllable
  • at the end of a word (very rare; it’s usually silent)
  • before or after a consonant
  • whenever there is a double S
French sound filesPar exemple…
the letter s
la soupe soup
le stade stadium
le fils son
le poisson fish

Hard pronunciation

Phonetic symbol [z]

French sound filesPar exemple…
le visage face
ils ont they have

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French pronunciation

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