A1 · Alphabet and pronunciation · about 3 minutes
Vowels
A u is not an “oo”, and two letters are often one sound.
Do you know this already?
“New to me”: the explanation first, then practice. “Test myself”: 3 short questions – get at least two right and you go straight to the harder exercises.
Words you will need14
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- toutall, everything
- beaubeautiful
- l’heurethe hour, the time
- pleuvoirto rain
- aujourd’huitoday
- vouloirto want
- la voiturethe car
- êtreto be
- rougered
- la sœurthe sister
- l’enfantthe child
- le livrethe book
- la tablethe table
- boireto drink
Practise as flashcards · 1Practise as flashcards · 2
Missing a word? Look it up in the dictionary
Understand
RememberA u is never “oo” — only ou is.
- Signal words
- ou
- eau
- eu
- oi
- ai
The form
How it is written and said
Each row gives the rule first, then examples in French that show it.
| always the rounded “ü” | u — tu, rue |
| “oo” as in “food” | ou — vous, rouge |
| “oh”, without a glide | au, eau — auto, beau |
| “e” as in “bed” | ai, ei — lait, neige |
| “u” of “fur”, lips pursed | eu, œu — deux, sœur |
| “wa” | oi — moi, trois |
| closed, a clipped “ay” | é — café |
| open, as in “bed” | è, ê — mère, fête |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
u is always the rounded “ü”; only ou is “oo”.
tu et tout, sur et sousyou and everything, on and under
au and eau are a plain “oh”.
un beau châteaua beautiful castle
eu is a rounded vowel, not “you”.
deux heurestwo hours
oi is pronounced “wa”.
moi et toime and you
Example sentences
Il pleut aujourd’hui.It is raining today.
Je voudrais de l’eau.I would like some water.
La voiture est rouge.The car is red.
1 more example sentences
Ma sœur a deux enfants.My sister has two children.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Pronounce a French u like the “oo” of “food” and you have said a different word: sur (on) becomes sous (under), tu (you) becomes tout (all). The book ends up under the table instead of on it. For the right sound, round your lips as for “oo” and say “ee” through them.
Quick check
A warm-up: 2 questions, answered straight away. They do not count towards your progress.
Practise
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Your progress
What your lesson on this topic shows:
The lesson decides this, not a button: passed at 80% on the first try, mastered when you pass it again on another day.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
French vowels are pure: each one is a single sound held steady, without the glide English adds to the “o” of “go” or the “ay” of “day”. a is the “a” of “father”, but short (papa); i is “ee” (ami); o is an “o” without the glide (moto). Two vowels need attention at once: u is always the rounded “ü” sound — tu, rue, sur —, and an e without an accent is silent at the end of a word and otherwise usually a short “uh”, as in le or petit.
Many sounds are written with two or three letters that together make one vowel: ou is the “oo” of “food” (vous, rouge), au and eau are “oh” (auto, beau), ai and ei are the “e” of “bed” (lait, neige), eu and œu are a rounded sound like the “u” of “fur” with pursed lips (deux, sœur), and oi is “wa” (moi, trois).
With e, open and closed matter: é is closed, like a short, clipped “ay” (café); è and ê are open, like the “e” of “bed” (mère, fête). And French never weakens an unstressed vowel to “uh” the way English does in “banana”: every vowel keeps its full colour.
The verbs on this page, in every form: être · avoir · vouloir · pleuvoir