Lesson 1: Reading French. Numbers 0–20

Part 1: The one rule that changes everything

French is not written the way it's read. Unlike German or Spanish, there are lots of "extra" letters that look important and stay completely silent. Good news: the rules are real and you only need a handful. Bad news: you have to accept them without "why".

The single biggest rule:

Final consonants are usually silent. Especially -s, -t, -d, -x, -z, -p.

• Paris → "pah-REE" (silent s)
• petit → "puh-TEE" (silent t)
• trop → "troh" (silent p)
• chez → "shay" (silent z)
• deux → "duh" (silent x)

English has silent letters too — knight, lamb, psalm, write — but French does it more systematically. Once you accept "the last consonant is dead", a huge percentage of French spelling stops scaring you.

The exception: c, r, f, l usually do get pronounced at the end. Memorize the English word "CaReFuL" — those four consonants stay alive at word end.

• avec → "ah-VEK" (c sounds)
• bonjour → "bohn-ZHOOR" (r sounds)
• neuf → "nuhf" (f sounds)
• seul → "suhl" (l sounds)

---

Part 2: Ten reading rules that cover 90% of French

What you see	How you read it	Example
ou	"oo" (like English food) — always	bonjour, vous, nous
u (alone)	no English equivalent — round lips for "oo", then say "ee"	tu, une, salut
eu / œu	between "uh" and "eh" — round lips for "oh", then say "eh"	deux, peur, cœur
oi	"wah"	moi "mwah", toi "twah", trois "twah"
au / eau	"oh"	au revoir, beau, eau
ai / ei	"eh" (like English bed)	j'ai, seize, Seine
ch	"sh" (NOT "ch" like English chair)	chez "shay", chocolat, chien
gn	"ny" (like English canyon)	campagne, Espagne
qu	just "k" (the u is silent)	que, qui, pourquoi
ille	"ee" at word end	fille "fee", travaille "trah-VYE"

The English-speaker's biggest reading mistake: treating French vowels like English ones. French a = "ah" (like father), NEVER "ay". French i = "ee", NEVER "eye". French e at word end is usually silent. One letter, one sound — except where the rules above explicitly say otherwise.

---

Part 3: Nasal vowels — the signature sound of French

This is the distinctive flavor of French. A nasal vowel happens when m or n follows a vowel and the air goes out through your nose instead of your mouth. The m or n itself disappears — it only "nasalizes" the vowel before it.

What you see	How you read it (roughly)	Example
an / en	nasal "ahn" (like English aunt with the n dropped)	France, enfant, temps
on	nasal "ohn" (round your lips for "oh", let air through nose)	bon, non, maison
in / ain / ein	nasal "ahn" (open mouth wider than for on)	vin, pain, plein
un	nasal between "uhn" and "ohn"	un, brun

English-speaker trap: do NOT pronounce the n like in English bon (with a hard n at the end). The n is part of the vowel — your tongue should never touch the roof of your mouth. Practice: say "song" but stop right before the "g". That nasal hum is what French wants.

Trap 2 — when nasal effect is cancelled: if a vowel follows the n/m, or if it's doubled (nn/mm), the nasal effect dies and the n/m becomes a normal consonant: bonne → "bun" (normal n), ami → "ah-mee", femme → "fahm".

---

Part 4: Accents — diacritics are new letters, not stress marks

Important: French accents are not stress marks like Spanish or Russian. They're separate letters with their own sound or function. Don't ignore them.

Mark	Name	How to read it	Example
é	accent aigu	closed "ay" — mouth narrow, like English day without the y-glide	café, écouter, été
è	accent grave	open "eh" — mouth wider, like English bed	père, mère, très
ê	accent circonflexe	long "eh"; usually marks a lost Latin s	fête (festival, was feste), forêt (forest), hôpital (hospital)
ç	cédille	makes c sound like "s" instead of "k" before a, o, u	ça, français, garçon
ë / ï	tréma	"read the two vowels separately"	Noël "no-EL", naïf "nah-EEF"

The circumflex hack is a free vocabulary helper — words that have ê in French often had s in Old French and still do in English: fête ↔ feast, forêt ↔ forest, hôpital ↔ hospital, île ↔ isle, côte ↔ coast. Drop the circumflex, add an s, and you've often got the English cognate.

---

Part 5: Liaison and élision — what makes French sound French

These are the two glue-ups that connect words. Without them, French sounds like a robot; with them, it sounds like France.

Liaison — silent consonants wake up

A final consonant is usually silent. But if the next word starts with a vowel (or a silent h), that consonant comes back to life and connects to the next word.

• les amis → "lay-zah-MEE" (the s came back as a z-sound)
• un homme → "uhn-OHM" (the n came back)
• vous avez → "voo-zah-VAY"
• petit ami → "puh-tee-tah-MEE" (the t came back)

English speakers already do this instinctively: "an apple" vs "a banana" — the n appears specifically to bridge a vowel. French does the same thing, more aggressively, with more letters.

The "liaison zone" — after these short words, the connection is automatic and required: les, des, mes, tes, ses, nos, vos, leurs, un, mon, ton, son, deux, trois, six, dix, vous, nous, est, sont.

Élision — final vowels disappear before a vowel

If a small word ends in a vowel (usually e, a, or i) and the next word starts with a vowel, the final vowel of the first word drops and is replaced by an apostrophe.

• je + ai = j'ai (NOT "zhuh-ay")
• le + ami = l'ami
• la + école = l'école
• si + il = s'il (only before il/ils — never before other vowels)
• que + est = qu'est

This is mandatory, not optional. Le ami is a mistake. English contracts the same way — can not → can't, I am → I'm — except the French version is required, not just casual.

---

Part 6: Numbers 0–20

Numbers 0–10 — memorize cold

0	1	2	3	4	5
zéro	un	deux	trois	quatre	cinq

6	7	8	9	10
six	sept	huit	neuf	dix

Pronunciation traps:

• un — nasal "uhn" (NOT "oon" like Spanish uno)
• deux — "duh" (eu = round lips for "oh", say "eh")
• six — three pronunciations depending on context: "sees" at sentence end; "see" before a consonant (six livres → "see LEEVR"); "seez" before a vowel (six amis → "seez ah-MEE" — that's liaison!)
• sept — "set" (p is silent, t is pronounced)
• huit — "weet" (h is silent, "uit" sounds like "weet")
• neuf — usually "nuhf"; but before ans (years) and heures (hours), the f becomes v: neuf ans → "nuh-v-AHN", neuf heures → "nuh-v-UHR"
• dix — same three rules as six: "deess", "dee", "deez"

Numbers 11–16 (their own words)

11	12	13	14	15	16
onze	douze	treize	quatorze	quinze	seize

Numbers 17–19 (compounds: 10 + digit)

17	18	19
dix-sept	dix-huit	dix-neuf

Trap! French switches systems mid-stream: 11–16 are their own words, but 17–19 are literally "ten-seven, ten-eight, ten-nine". Don't try to keep going with the 11–16 pattern.

Number 20

vingt → "vahn" (nasal; the gt is silent at the end, but liaison wakes it up: vingt ans → "vahn-t-AHN").

---