French Liaison and Nasal Vowels: The Two Habits That Make Spoken French Sound French
When to link words in French (and when you must not), how to say an, on and in without an n, and drills you can do out loud in a few minutes a day.
Quick answer
Spoken French sounds connected because of liaison, where a silent final consonant is pronounced before a word starting with a vowel (les amis sounds like lé-zami), and nasal vowels, where an, on and in are said through the nose without a final n. Learn the few required liaisons, avoid the forbidden ones and practise the three nasal vowels in minimal pairs, out loud.
Many learners can read French well and still find that native speech sounds like one long word. Two features explain most of that gap. First, French links words together, so the boundaries you see on the page disappear in speech. Second, French has nasal vowels, sounds made with air passing through the nose, which many languages do not have at all.
Neither is hard once you know the rules, but both must be practised aloud. Reading about liaison will not make you link words while you speak; saying the same phrases until the link happens automatically will.
What liaison is
Most final consonants in French are silent: les is said lé, vous is said vou. In liaison, that silent consonant comes back to life when the next word starts with a vowel sound or a mute h, and it joins the next word: les amis becomes lé-zami, vous avez becomes vou-zavé, un enfant becomes un-nenfant.
The linked consonant sometimes changes sound. Written s and x are pronounced z (deux heures, deu-zeur); d is pronounced t (quand il, kan-til); f in neuf becomes v before heures and ans (neuf heures, neu-veur).
Required, forbidden and optional liaisons
If you only learn one row, learn the first: determiner + noun. It is the most frequent liaison in everyday French, and missing it (lé ami instead of lé-zami) is noticed immediately.
| Type | Where | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Required | Determiner + noun or adjective | les amis, mon ami, deux enfants, ces hommes |
| Required | Pronoun + verb, and verb + pronoun | nous avons, ils ont, vont-ils |
| Required | Adjective before a noun | petit ami, grand homme |
| Required | After short prepositions | chez elle, dans un café, en avance |
| Forbidden | After et | et elle (no t sound) |
| Forbidden | Before an aspirated h | les héros, les haricots (no z sound) |
| Forbidden | After a singular noun | un étudiant américain (no t sound) |
| Optional | Most other places | je suis allé, pas encore (more common in formal speech) |
Liaison is not the same as enchaînement
Enchaînement is the linking of a consonant that is always pronounced: elle a sounds like è-la, avec elle like a-vè-kèl. It happens almost everywhere and has no exceptions to learn. Together, liaison and enchaînement are why French syllables tend to start with a consonant and flow across word boundaries.
The three nasal vowels
In standard French from France there are three nasal vowels in everyday speech. (A fourth, written un, is still taught and used in some regions, but most speakers in France now say it like in.) In each one, the n or m in the spelling is not pronounced as a consonant: it only tells you the vowel is nasal. Bon is not bonn; it is a nasal o with no n at the end.
| Sound | Common spellings | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Nasal a | an, am, en, em | enfant, temps, chambre |
| Nasal o | on, om | bon, nom, maison |
| Nasal e | in, im, ain, ein, un | vin, pain, plein, un |
How to make a nasal vowel
Watch out for the double n or a vowel after the n: then the vowel is oral and the n is pronounced. Bon is nasal, bonne is bo-nn; an is nasal, année is a-né.
- Say a long a as in father. Without moving your tongue, let air go out through your nose as well as your mouth. You should feel a vibration in your nose.
- Check with your fingers: pinch your nose while holding the vowel. A nasal vowel changes or stops; an oral vowel does not.
- Do not close the vowel with an n or ng. Stop the sound while it is still a vowel.
- Minimal triplets to drill aloud: vin / vent / vont, lin / lent / long, main / ment / mont.
A short daily drill
- Say ten determiner + noun pairs with liaison: les amis, mes enfants, ces hôtels, deux euros, trois heures.
- Say five sentences that must not link after et: Paul et Anne, toi et elle.
- Read the triplets vin / vent / vont aloud three times, slowly, then fast.
- Record a thirty-second answer to Qu'est-ce que tu as fait ce week-end ? and listen for missing links and any n at the end of a nasal vowel.
Practicing with WitSpeak
WitSpeak teaches French in Early Access: it works today and is still being refined every week. You can talk freely in French with Mia or Alex, rehearse roleplays like ordering at a café or buying a train ticket, and take beginner lessons that score your pronunciation. Feedback is explained in your own language. See what is included on the French speaking practice page.
Frequently asked questions
What is liaison in French?
Liaison is pronouncing a normally silent final consonant when the next word starts with a vowel sound, and joining it to that word: les amis is said lé-zami.
Is liaison always required?
No. Some liaisons are required (determiner + noun, pronoun + verb), some are forbidden (after et, before an aspirated h, after a singular noun) and the rest are optional.
How many nasal vowels does French have?
Standard French from France uses three in everyday speech: the nasal a in enfant, the nasal o in bon and the nasal e in vin. A fourth, the un sound, has merged with in for most speakers in France.
Do I pronounce the n in bon or vin?
No. The n only marks the vowel as nasal. Stop the sound while it is still a vowel. The n is pronounced only when it is doubled or followed by a vowel, as in bonne or année.
Which French does WitSpeak teach?
French as spoken in France. French is in Early Access in WitSpeak, so it works today and is still being refined.
