French for Hindi speakers | Beginner Level | Part 1

This lecture is about French alphabets. Like English, French has also 26 alphabets. There are 6 vowels (A,I,E,O,U,Y) and 20 (B,C,D,F,G,H,J,K,L,M,N,P,Q,R,S,T,V,W,X,Z) consonants in French. 

After completing this lecture, you will know all the french alphabets with their correct pronunciation.

In this lecture we talked about two things: Liaison and élision 

Liaison

Liaison means linking. It is voice link between two words. When any one of these consonants s, x, z, d, t, n or f is found at the end of the word and next word begins with the vowel or mute 'h', then the last consonant is pronounced by combining it the vowel, and in some cases, a different sound is produced. 

1. When the word ends with the consonant s,x,z and the next word begins with vowel or mute 'h', then the sound z is pronounced.
2. When the word ends with the consonant d,t and the next word begins with vowel or mute 'h', then the sound t is pronounced.
3. When the word ends with the consonant n and the next word begins with vowel or mute 'h', then the sound n is pronounced.
4. When the word ends with the consonant f and the next word begins with vowel or mute 'h', then the sound v is pronounced.

But REMEMEBER, not all words with the final consonant will make liaison. There are many exceptions, like:

1. After the word 'et', if any word begins with the vowel or mute 'h', then there will be no liaison.
2. After a name of a person, if any word begins with the vowel or mute 'h', then there will be no liaison.

Élison

Élison in French the suppression of a final unstressed vowel immediately before another word beginning with a vowel.

1. Definite articles: le and la
2. Negative markers: ne
3. Subject pronouns: je and ce
4. Other words: de, me, te, se, si, que

In this lecture, we have talked about, 5 French accents (which is known as Les signes diacritiques in French):

1. L'accent aigu - é
2. L'accent grave - è, à, ù
3. L'accent circonflex - ê, â, û, ô, î
4. Tréma - ë, ï
5. Cédille - ç

In this lecture we talk about 2 ligatures in French. They are rarely used in French words, but still we need to know them and their pronunciation.

In this lecture, we have discussed some pronunciation tips.

In general, we don't pronounce the final consonant of the French word, however, if the word ends with c, r, f & l, then the final consonant is pronounced. But remember NOT all words ending with c,r,f & l is pronounced. There are exceptional words, which you need to learn.

There are 4 forms of definite articles in French. It is equivalent to 'the' in English.

1. Le - Masculine singular 
2. La - Feminine singular
3. L' - Masculine or feminine in front of a vowel or mute 'h'
4. Les - Masculine or feminine plural

There are 3 forms of indefinite articles in French. It is equivalent to 'a/an/one' and plural corresponds to 'some' in English.

1. Un - Masculine singular 
2. Une - Feminine singular
3. Des - Masculine or feminine plural

There are 4 forms of partitive articles in French. It is equivalent to 'some/any' in English.

1. Du - Masculine singular 
2. De la - Feminine singular
3. De l' - Masculine or feminine in front of a vowel or mute 'h'
4. Des - Masculine or feminine plural