How to Learn French - mind your p's and q's.

Bonjour!

I thought I’d include the sound ‘qu’ in this very short post, as it’s a sound that can be overlooked at times, so bears clarifying.

Where in English we tend to make a ‘kw’ sound for this two letter combination (think ‘quiet’ and ‘equine’), for the French it is a very straightforward ‘k’ sound. Sometimes we hear beginners saying quand as though it’s spelled ‘kwand’, but this is an error that is usually rectified fairly quickly. What you might like to know, though, is that ‘qu’ as a ‘k’ sound in French is one you can count on.

Now for some examples. Remember, be confident in just making a ‘k’ sound. You won’t go wrong, except if you run across an English word the French have borrowed (eg le quiz where they tend to stick to the original pronunciation).

époque
que
inquiet
quartier
qu’est-ce que

What about quoi and pourquoi I am sure I can hear you exclaiming? Although these words make us feel as though we’re using an English ‘kw’ pronunciation, it’s actually the oi that is making a ‘wa’ sound. Tricky, non*?

*Hello | *era | *that | *worried | *suburb | *what | *no