# The French Alphabet — All 26 Letters, With Pronunciation and Audio

> The French alphabet has the same **26 letters** as English, in the same order, but nearly every
> letter has a different name. The two that catch people out are **G** (zhay, sounds like English J)
> and **J** (zhee, sounds like English G). Five accent marks sit on top of the system: é, è, ê, ë and ç.

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Updated: 2026-09-07

## All 26 letters

| Letter | French name | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| A | a | ah |
| B | bé | bay |
| C | cé | say |
| D | dé | day |
| E | e | uh |
| F | effe | eff |
| G | gé | zhay |
| H | ache | ash |
| I | i | ee |
| J | ji | zhee |
| K | ka | kah |
| L | elle | ell |
| M | emme | emm |
| N | enne | enn |
| O | o | oh |
| P | pé | pay |
| Q | qu | kew |
| R | erre | air |
| S | esse | ess |
| T | té | tay |
| U | u | ew |
| V | vé | vay |
| W | double vé | doo-bluh-VAY |
| X | ixe | eeks |
| Y | i grec | ee-GREK |
| Z | zède | zed |

## The four letters that catch everyone

| Letter | French says | Why it trips you |
|---|---|---|
| G | zhay | Sounds like the English letter **J** |
| J | zhee | Sounds like the English letter **G** |
| E | uh | English ears hear a soft grunt, not a letter |
| I | ee | Sounds like the English letter **E** |

**The G/J swap is the expensive one.** Spelling an email address aloud is where it costs you. The
fix French speakers use constantly is to add a word: *G comme Georges*, *J comme Jacques*,
*E comme Émile*, *I comme Irène*.

## The five accents

| Mark | French name | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| é | accent aigu | Makes E say a bright "ay" | été |
| è | accent grave | Makes E say an open "eh" | mère |
| ê | accent circonflexe | Marks an S that French dropped | forêt |
| ë | tréma | Splits two vowels into separate sounds | Noël |
| ç | cédille | Forces C to say "s" before a, o, u | français |

**The circumflex is a piece of history.** Wherever there is ê, â or ô, an *s* used to follow the
vowel — and English usually still has it. *Forêt* was *forest*. *Hôpital* was *hospital*. *Fête*
was *feste*, our *feast*.

**The grave accent on à and ù changes no sound at all.** It exists only to separate look-alike
words: *a* (has) from *à* (to), *ou* (or) from *où* (where).

**The cédille is the only mark on a consonant.** C says "k" before a, o and u, so *garçon* would
be "gar-KON" without it. The tail forces the "s": gar-SOHN.

## Spelling your name out loud

| You need | French | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| How do you spell that? | Comment ça s'écrit ? | ko-MAHN sah say-KREE |
| a double letter (LL) | deux L | duh ELL |
| capital letter | majuscule | mah-zhew-SKEWL |
| lower case | minuscule | mee-new-SKEWL |
| é | e accent aigu | uh ak-SAHN ay-GEW |
| @ | arobase | ah-ro-BAHZ |
| . (dot) | point | pwan |
| - (hyphen) | tiret | tee-REH |
| _ (underscore) | tiret bas | tee-REH BAH |

**Say doubles as doubles.** French says *deux L* rather than "L, L". *Miller* becomes
*M, I, deux L, E, R* — emm, ee, duh ELL, uh, air.

## Letters French barely uses

| Letter | Where it shows up | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| W | The rarest of all — almost entirely borrowings | week-end, wagon, wifi |
| K | Loanwords and brand names; French prefers C or QU | kilo, koala, ketchup |
| H | Always written, never pronounced | homme, heure, hôtel |

French **H** is never sounded, yet some words behave as if a consonant were there: *le héros*
keeps its *le* while *l'homme* contracts. That is the difference between a "mute h" and an
"aspirated h".

**œ** (as in *sœur*, *cœur*) is called *e dans l'o*. It is a ligature, not a 27th letter, and
typing *oe* is understood everywhere.

## FAQ

### How many letters are in the French alphabet?

Twenty-six — exactly the same letters as English, in the same order. Accented forms like é and ç
are not separate letters; they are the same letters carrying a mark.

### How do you pronounce the letters of the French alphabet?

A (ah), B (bay), C (say), D (day), E (uh), F (eff), G (zhay), H (ash), I (ee), J (zhee), K (kah),
L (ell), M (emm), N (enn), O (oh), P (pay), Q (kew), R (air), S (ess), T (tay), U (ew), V (vay),
W (doo-bluh-vay), X (eeks), Y (ee-grek), Z (zed).

### Why do French speakers mix up G and J?

Because the two letters are effectively swapped between the languages. French G is pronounced
zhay, which sounds like the English letter J, and French J is pronounced zhee, which sounds like
the English letter G. Spelling an email address aloud is where this causes the most trouble.

### What is the French letter Y called?

*I grec*, pronounced ee-GREK. It means "Greek i", because the letter entered the Latin alphabet
from Greek. It is two syllables, not one.

### Why is W called double vé in French?

Because French sees the letter as two V shapes rather than two U shapes: *double vé*, pronounced
doo-bluh-VAY. W is also the rarest letter in French and appears almost entirely in borrowed words
such as *week-end* and *wagon*.

### What are the French accent marks called?

There are five: *accent aigu* (é), *accent grave* (è, à, ù), *accent circonflexe* (ê, â, î, ô, û),
*tréma* (ë, ï, ü) and *cédille* (ç). Only the cédille attaches to a consonant.

### How do you spell your name out loud in French?

Say the letters using their French names, mark doubles with *deux* (*deux L* for LL), and name any
accent after its letter — *e accent aigu* for é. For an email address, *arobase* is @, *point* is a
full stop and *tiret* is a hyphen.

## Related guides

- French pronunciation for beginners: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/french-pronunciation-for-beginners
- French numbers 1–100: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/french-numbers-1-100
- How to say hello in French: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/hello-in-french
- All free French guides: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides