Hear French as sound groups

French spelling and pronunciation do not match letter by letter. The verb ending -ent is silent in ils parlent. Many final consonants are silent, but there are exceptions: do not turn this into a rule that every final consonant disappears. In vous avez, a liaison links the final s as a z sound to avez. Practise with actual French audio. Nasal vowels, such as the vowel in sans, are not simply a vowel followed by a fully pronounced n.

Example

Practice notes

Use the beginner audio resource in your study plan. Listen to a short phrase, pause, repeat, then compare with the recording. Repeat a meaningful group rather than isolated syllables. Prioritise intelligibility: clear vowel contrasts, audible sentence boundaries and a pace a listener can follow. Reading this page alone is not listening or pronunciation practice.