French Accents - Think Language

March 2016 Grammar Lesson: French Accents
Think French Grammar Corner is brought to you by Laura K. Lawless. Laura K. Lawless
started learning French as a child and has never stopped. She wanted to be a conference
interpreter when she grew up, but it wasn’t meant to be, and teaching French online
eventually revealed itself as her true calling. After spending 15 years creating one of the
best French sites on the internet, Laura decided to stop writing for a network and go out on
her own. At Lawless French, she offers at least one new feature every day: grammar,
vocabulary, and pronunciation lessons; quizzes; study tips; listening and reading
comprehension exercises; and unique tools like The Subjunctivisor. Laura has also written
several French books, including Intermediate French for Dummies.
French Accents
French has five accents: four for vowels and one for a consonant and they’re not just for decoration.
Since they change the sound of the letter or distinguish between two otherwise identical words, you
must include them when writing in French.*
1. The acute accent is found only on the letter e.
• Il écoute la radio. He’s listening to the radio.
• Je travaille cet été.
I’m working this summer.
2. The circumflex may be used on any vowel.
• Je veux visiter la forêt pluviale. I want to visit the rainforest.
• J’ai dû acheter du jus. I had to buy some juice.
3. The grave accent is found only on a, e, and u.
• Il a une maison à la plage. He has a house at the beach.
• J’ai très faim. I’m very hungry.
4. The dieresis is only on e and i.
• Noël sous la neige White Christmas
• Tu es trop naïf. You’re too naive.
5. The cedilla is added to the letter c only in front of a, o, and u.
• D’une certaine façon, c’est vrai. In a way, that’s true.
• En France, on parle français. In France, people speak French.
*Related Features
• How to type accents
• French vowels
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