E - French Pronunciation of E

The French letter E can be pronounced several different ways:

• Like the E in angel (like a schwa) - listen. This sound is often heard in single syllable words like le, me, etc.
   
• Like the vowel sound in "weigh" except without the y sound at the end - listen. This sound occurs with
     E with an acute accent: été
     E in an open syllable (i.e., a syllable that ends in a vowel sound): trajet
     the verb endings -er and -ez: manger, veuillez.
   

• Like the E in bed - listen. This sound is found in
     E with a grave accent: exprès
     E with a circumflex: tête
     E followed by a double consonant: belle
     E in a closed syllable (a syllable that ends in a consonant sound): sept
   
• An unaccented E at the end of a word is called an E muet and may or may not be pronounced.

French Words With E

Click on the links below to hear the words pronounced in French:

• le  (the)
• été  (summer)
• manger  (to eat)
• veuillez  (please)
• exprès  (on purpose)
• tête  (head)
• belle  (beautiful)
• sept  (seven)