International Phonetic Alphabet for French - IPA Chart

On this page, you will find charts with all French consonant and vowel sounds. You will find one French word for each sound in the beginning, middle, and end of a word.

You can choose one of the two phonetic transcription systems:

1. International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
2. French Phonetic Alphabet (FPA)

 

 

Consonants in French

Phonetic transcription

IPAFPAboth

IPA	FPA	At the beginning of a word	In the middle of a word	At the end of a word
[b]	b	beaucoup [boku] [boku]	début [deby] [déby]	tombe [tɔ̃ːb] [tôːb]
[d]	d	de [də] [de]	idée [ide] [idé]	grande [ɡʁɑ̃ːd] [ɡrâːd]
[f]	f	femme [fam] [fam]	enfin [ɑ̃fɛ̃] [âfê]	neuf [nœːf] [nëːf]
[k]	k	que [kə] [ke]	lequel [ləkɛl] [lekèl]	chaque [ʃak] [Sak]
[l]	l	le [lə] [le]	celui [səlɥi] [selÿi]	il [il] [il]
[m]	m	même [mɛm] [mèm]	famille [famij] [famij]	système [sistɛm] [sistèm]
[n]	n	nous [nu] [nu]	donner [dɔne] [dòné]	une [yn] [yn]
[p]	p	peu [pø] [pö]	époque [epɔk] [épòk]	type [tip] [tip]
[s]	s	si [si] [si]	aussi [osi] [osi]	place [plas] [plas]
[t]	t	temps [tɑ̃] [tâ]	était [etɛ] [étè]	toute [tut] [tut]
[v]	v	vous [vu] [vu]	avec [avɛk] [avèk]	arrive [aʁiːv] [ariːv]
[z]	z	zone [zoːn] [zoːn]	maison [mɛzɔ̃] [mèzô]	quinze [kɛ̃ːz] [kêːz]
[ɡ]	ɡ	gauche [ɡoːʃ] [ɡoːS]	également [eɡalmɑ̃] [éɡalmâ]	vague [vaɡ] [vaɡ]
[ɲ]	N	-	gagner [ɡaɲe] [ɡaNé]	ligne [liɲ] [liN]
[ʁ]	r	raison [ʁɛzɔ̃] [rèzô]	sera [səʁa] [sera]	jour [ʒuːʁ] [Zuːr]
[ʃ]	S	chef [ʃɛf] [Sèf]	échapper [eʃape] [éSapé]	riche [ʁiʃ] [riS]
[ʒ]	Z	jamais [ʒamɛ] [Zamè]	déjà [deʒa] [déZa]	rouge [ʁuːʒ] [ruːZ]
[dʒ]	dZ	Djibouti [dʒibuti] [dZibuti]	budget [bydʒɛ] [bydZè]	Cambodge [kɑ̃bɔdʒ] [kâbòdZ]
[tʃ]	tS	tchèque [tʃɛk] [tSèk]	caoutchouc [kautʃu] [kautSu]	match [matʃ] [matS]
[ŋ]	G	-	-	meeting [mitiŋ] [mitiG]

 

Semivowels in French

Phonetic transcription

IPAFPAboth

IPA	FPA	At the beginning of a word	In the middle of a word	At the end of a word
[j]	j	hiérarchie [jeʁaʁʃi] [jérarSi]	Dieu [djø] [djö]	fille [fij] [fij]
[w]	w	oui [wi] [wi]	loi [lwa] [lwa]	-
[ɥ]	ÿ	huitième [ɥitjɛm] [ÿitjèm]	lui [lɥi] [lÿi]	-

 

Oral vowels in French

Phonetic transcription

IPAFPAboth

IPA	FPA	At the beginning of a word	In the middle of a word	At the end of a word
[a]	a	année [ane] [ané]	travail [tʁavaj] [travaj]	moi [mwa] [mwa]
[e]	é	été [ete] [été]	général [ʒeneʁal] [Zénéral]	vérité [veʁite] [vérité]
[i]	i	ici [isi] [isi]	ville [vil] [vil]	qui [ki] [ki]
[o]	o	aucune [okyn] [okyn]	côté [kote] [koté]	nouveau [nuvo] [nuvo]
[u]	u	ouverte [uvɛʁt] [uvèrt]	souvent [suvɑ̃] [suvâ]	coup [ku] [ku]
[y]	y	unique [ynik] [ynik]	étude [etyd] [étyd]	pu [py] [py]
[ø]	ö	Europe [øʁɔp] [öròp]	deuxième [døzjɛm] [dözjèm]	lieu [ljø] [ljö]
[œ]	ë	œil [œːj] [ëːj]	seul [sœːl] [sëːl]	-
[ɔ]	ò	homme [ɔm] [òm]	comme [kɔm] [kòm]	-
[ə]	e	-	besoin [bəzwɛ̃] [bezwê]	ne [nə] [ne]
[ɛ]	è	elle [ɛl] [èl]	nouvelle [nuvɛl] [nuvèl]	sujet [syʒɛ] [syZè]

 

Nasal vowels in French

Phonetic transcription

IPAFPAboth

IPA	FPA	At the beginning of a word	In the middle of a word	At the end of a word
[ɑ̃]	â	ensuite [ɑ̃sɥit] [âsÿit]	exemple [ɛɡzɑ̃ːpl] [èɡzâːpl]	seulement [sœlmɑ̃] [sëlmâ]
[ɔ̃]	ô	oncle [ɔ̃kl] [ôkl]	longtemps [lɔ̃tɑ̃] [lôtâ]	nom [nɔ̃] [nô]
[ɛ̃]	ê	ainsi [ɛ̃si] [êsi]	principe [pʁɛ̃sip] [prêsip]	loin [lwɛ̃] [lwê]

 

Footnotes for the IPA chart

Note that this IPA chart doesn't include the following sounds:

• [x] is a rare non-native consonant that may occur in some loaned Spanish and Arabic words (jota, khamsin).
• [œ̃] is pronounced as [ɛ̃] by most French speakers in France, including Paris.
• [ɑ] is now pronounced as [a] by most French speakers in France.