You’ll see these used often with French greetings and salutations, too.įrench people also believe that a missing accent is an error in spelling because these marks distinguish a word from its homonyms.įor example, the word parlé is different from parle. But the language requires diacritical marks to change the sound of the letter. The French alphabet also uses twenty-six letters.

It also comes in the forms of verb conjugation. È denotes the pronunciation /ɛ/ like “blessed” or “bet.” This pronunciation also means that the “e” is not silent or does not have an “uh” sound. The four main ways to pronounce it are:īut there are also diacritical marks that distinguish instances where the pronunciation is not part of the standard pronunciations for the letter “e”. The French pronunciation of the letter e can be confusing. It makes an ehh sound as in “get” or “bet.” The aigu accent (´) points to the right and upward, only appearing on top of the letter e. The grave accent (`) points to the left and upward, opposite the aigu accent. à/è/ì/ò/ù – l’accent grave (the grave accent).â/ê/î/ô/û – l’accent circonflexe (the circumflex).

Learning their pronunciations will help you become better at French! French Accents List: The Five French Accent Marks Take a look at the five kinds of French accent marks and how to use them.

How do i type an e with an accent mark