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Les 5 Accents FrançaisThe 5 French Accent Marks

+The 5 French Accents are:

1. Accent Aigu (é)

2. Accent Grave (è)

3. Accent Circonflexe (ê)

4. “C” cédille (ç)

5. Tréma (ë)

+Accent Aigue (é)

Most popular of the French accents

Makes the “AY” sound (“play”)

Only found on the letter “e”

Slants from top right to bottom left (é)

Examples – “bébé”, “décembre”, “février”

+Accent Grave (à)

Second most popular

Used on the vowels “a, e and u”

Defines the meaning between words that sound the same (“à” = at / “a” = has) or (“ou” = or/ “où” – where)

Gives the letter “e” a short sound as in “let”

Slants from top left to bottom right

Examples – “mère”, “problème”, “crème”, “à”, “où”

+Accent Circonflexe (ê)

Found over the vowels “a, e, i, o, u”.

Lengthens the vowel sound

Looks like a teepee tent

Examples – “tête”, “hôtel”, “dîner”

+“C” cédille –ça va?

Found only under the letter “c” before the vowels “a, o, u”

Gives “c”an “s” sound

Changes a hard “c” to a soft “c” sound

Written as the bottom/hook half of the number “5”

Examples – “français”, “ça va?”, “leçon”

+Le Tréma - Haïti

Makes sure that each vowel has its own pronunciation

Found over the letter “e, i, and u”

Two parallel dots

Least popular accent

Examples – “Noël”, “Hawaï”