LinguaSeven letters, and two of them keep a secret
Today you write G to M. Four of them behave: i, k, l and m sound the way you expect. Two keep a secret. G has two sounds and the vowel AFTER it decides: before a, o, u it is the hard g of gare; before e, i it goes soft, like the s of “measure”: girafe. H is the opposite kind of secret: it is always written and never pronounced. Hôtel is said “ôtel”. J has only the soft sound, the same as the soft g: jour. And k is a rare guest in French, kept for words like kilo that came from other languages.
« gé ». Capital G: the curve of a C that continues up to a hook in the middle, then a short bar into it. Small g: the round part like a c, then the tail down the right side, curling left below the line. Hard before a, o, u: gare. Soft before e, i: girafe.
« ache ». Capital: two posts, then the bar between them. Small h: a tall post, then an arch from its middle out to the right and down. Written always, said never: hôtel is “ôtel”.
i is « i »: the line down, then the dot. j is « ji »: a line that dives below the baseline and curls left, then the dot. Capital J has no dot and the same curl. j is always soft: jour.
« ka ». The post first, then two diagonals that meet at its middle: one coming in from the top right, one going out to the bottom right. A rare letter in French, kept for borrowed words: kilo.
l is « elle »: capital, the post and a foot to the right; small l, one stroke with a little curl at the bottom. m is « emme »: capital, four strokes, up, down to the middle, up, down; small m, a post and two arches.
| Letter | French name | How it sounds | In a word |
|---|---|---|---|
| G g | gé | hard g, or soft like the s of “measure” | gare, girafe |
| H h | ache | silent, always | hôtel |
| I i | i | “ee” as in “see” | île |
| J j | ji | the s of “measure” | jour |
| K k | ka | the k of “kilo” | kilo |
| L l | elle | the l of “lake” | lune |
| M m | emme | the m of “mother” | mère |
| Spelling | Sound | Words |
|---|---|---|
| g + a, o, u | hard g, as in “go” | gare, gomme |
| g + e, i | soft, like the s of “measure” | girafe, âge |
| j | always the soft sound | jour, jeudi |
| h | no sound at all | hôtel, homme |
la garethe station
un jour à l’hôtela day at the hotel
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| gare | railway station | La gare de Lille. Lille station. |
| girafe | giraffe | La girafe a un bébé. The giraffe has a baby. |
| hôtel | hotel | L’hôtel de la gare. The station hotel. |
| île | island | L’île de Ré. The island of Ré. |
| jour | day | Un jour de fête. A day of celebration. |
| kilo | kilo, kilogram | Un kilo de miel, madame. A kilo of honey, madam. |
| lune | moon | La lune et le lac. The moon and the lake. |
| mère | mother | La mère de Léa. Léa’s mother. |
| lac | lake | Le lac Léman. Lake Geneva. |
| midi | noon, midday | Il est midi. It is noon. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- trace the letter: 3
- fill the gap: 2
- match the pairs: 1
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
In which of these words is the g SOFT, said like a j?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.