French pronunciation
The letter combination ue is pronounced with the lips tightly puckered, as if you’re saying the French u, but instead make a tight "w" sound – phonetic symbol: [ɥ].
The e follows its normal rules.
| Par exemple… |
| une nuée | cloud, horde |
| la Suède | Sweden |
| tatouer | to tattoo |
| usuel | usual, normal |
Exceptions
- In g + ue and ui, the u serves only to make the g hard, so there’s no "w" sound: une figue (fig), larguer (to release).
- Q + ue is pronounced [kɛ] (as in une question) unless it’s at the end of a word, in which case it’s just [k] (as in athlétique).
- None of this applies to the letter combination ueil, which has its own pronunciation rules.
Also see ui.
Related lessons
- Letters: U | E
- Combination: UEIL
- French vowels
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