Accented Capitals

French capitals with accents
There's a bit of debate with regard to accents on capital letters. Most everyone agrees that accents are required on lower case letters, but some French speakers claim that they are unneccessary or even incorrect on capital letters. Is this true? The answer depends in part on who you ask.

   

Accentonyms

French accentonyms
Some French accents offer pronunciation clues, others refer back to old spellings, and still others differentiate between otherwise identically spelled words. For all of these reasons, accents matter and must be included when writing (or typing) in French - especially in the case of words that have different meanings with and without accents.

   

Accents

French accentsWhile French has the same alphabet as English, some of the letters have little decorations that can make them look and sound very different. In French, accents are essential: they're there for a reason, so you must include them when writing.

   

Acute Accent: é

French acute accentIn French, E is the only letter that can be modified with l'accent aigu, the acute accent. With the accent, it may be called either e accent aigu or simply é, pronounced [e]. As indicated by the latter, the acute accent changes the vowel's pronunciation to [e].

   

Cedilla: ç

French cedilla çThe little hook added under the letter c in French is a diacritical mark known as a cedilla, une cédille: ç. The letter c with the hook is called c cédille.

   

Circumflex: â, ê, î, ô, û

French circumflexThe circumflex, aka "little hat," is the only French accent that may be found on any of the five vowels. In any given word, the circumflex may serve one or more purposes.

   

Dieresis: ë, ï, ü

French dieresisThe dieresis, le tréma, is a French accent found only on three vowels: ë, ï, and ü. The dieresis usually indicates that the accented vowel must be pronounced distinctly from the vowel that precedes it.

   

   

How to Type Accents in Any OS

Typing French accents
It's just as important to include accents when writing in French as it is to spell words correctly. It drives me kind of crazy when people say, sorry, I can't type accents on my computer / tablet / smartphone. Yes, you can type accents - yes! even on your old computer. Check out these instructions for Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, iPad, and Android.