Vocalyra

French pronunciation for Brazilian Portuguese speakers

Vocalyra teaching team · Last updated:

Brazilian Portuguese gives you a head start: nasal vowels, a guttural R and many cognates. The traps are the details — French nasals are different, final vowels are not reduced the same way, and French has rounded front vowels Portuguese lacks.

The French R

The Brazilian « r » in « rato » or « carro » (often [h] or [x]) is a good starting point, but the French R is voiced and made further back, near the uvula: rouge, Paris. Keep your vocal cords vibrating. Do not use the tapped r of « caro » in French.

Nasal vowels: close, but not identical

  • French has three or four nasal vowels: an/en (temps), on (bon), in (vin), un (brun, merged with in for many speakers).
  • In French the nasal is a pure vowel: no final [m] or [ŋ] and no diphthong. « bon » is not « bom » with closing lips; « vin » is not « vim ».
  • Portuguese nasalises vowels before any nasal consonant (cama). French does not: « bonne » is [bɔn], an oral vowel plus [n].

Rounded front vowels /y/, /ø/, /œ/

These do not exist in Portuguese. Say [i] as in « vi », keep the tongue there and round your lips as for [u]: that is /y/ in « tu », « rue ». Same trick from [e] gives /ø/ (deux), from [ɛ] gives /œ/ (peur). Contrast: tout / tu, roue / rue.

Final consonants and the final e

  • Most final consonants are silent: petit, grand, ils parlent (-ent is silent in verbs).
  • Common exceptions often pronounced: c, r, f, l (« CaReFuL »): avec, finir, neuf, sel.
  • Do not add a vowel after a pronounced consonant. Brazilians often say « chef-i » or « parc-i »; French ends cleanly: chef, parc.
  • Brazilian final -e sounds like [i] (leite); French final -e is usually silent (lune, porte).

Liaison and rhythm

Liaison links a normally silent consonant to the next vowel: les amis [lezami], vous avez [vuzave]. French rhythm is even, with stress on the last syllable of a group, not on a word's penultimate syllable as in Portuguese: « un café », « à la maison ».

Quick self-check

  1. Which is /y/: « tout » or « tu »?

    Show answer

    « tu » — tongue forward, lips rounded.

  2. Is the s in « les » pronounced in « les amis »?

    Show answer

    Yes, as [z], because of liaison.

  3. Does « bonne » have a nasal vowel?

    Show answer

    No: [bɔn], oral vowel + n.