In French, there are many contractions which are required: l’été (le + été); c’est (ce + est); j’aime (je + aime); je m’appelle (je me + appelle); au café (à + le café); etc. But there are many more which occur In everyday language. Some words, or vowels in pronouns, articles or prepositions are often skipped altogether. This can be challenging for non-native speakers because common words can take on an unfamiliar sound.
- A famous instance is the French adverb ne to form negations. Very often in French life, it is not used at all (except in writing): J’ai pas envie. (I don’t feel like it – zhay pah ah(n)-vee); Il regarde jamais la télé (he never watches TV - eel ruh-gahrd zha-may lah teh-leh).
- The vowel e in the article le (but not for la or les) is often dropped in informal French. For example: Tu prends l’café ? (you’re having coffee? – tew prah(n) l’kah-feh). Similarly, the letter e is often skipped between two consonants when unstressed, with words like ce, de, me, se or te. This can make sentences particularly difficult to follow. For example: c’mois-ci (this month - cmwoa cee); d’temps en temps (sometimes - (d)tah(n) zah(n) tah(n); Je m’fiche de ça (I don’t care about this - zhmuh feesh duh sah)
- Some vowels in je, tu, il and ils may be skipped. For example: J’veux pas partir (I don’t wanna leave – zhvuh pah pahr-teer); T’as pris du pain ? (You took some bread? – tah pree dew pah(n));
- If the verb used starts with a consonant, the l in il is skipped: Y fait froid ! (It’s cold – ee fay froah); Y a plus d’vin (No more wine – yah(n)– plew dvuh(n));
- ils changes to y or yz depending if the verb starts with a consonant or a vowel: Y font bien la cuisine ici ! (Their cooking is great here; lit. They’re doing the cooking well here - Yz arrivent quand ? (When are they arriving? - ee-zah-reev kah(n))
By Sev
Listen to this blog post below and hear how to pronounce these phrases:
