The French Pronunciation of E

The French letter E can be pronounced several different ways — such as the schwa sound, a long A sound, and short E sounds. Below are examples of the different sounds and sound files to hear the way they're spoken.

• 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 in the following:
  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 the following:
  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.

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)