Les signes diacritiques (French Accent Marks

French uses five main accent marks, mostly placed on vowels. Each has its own role in pronunciation or spelling.

Accent	Symbol	Name in French	Usage & Notes
Acute accent	é	l’accent aigu	Appears only on E; changes sound to /ay/
Grave accent	è à ù	l’accent grave	Changes vowel sound to /eh/ or distinguishes meaning
Circumflex	â ê î ô û	l’accent circonflexe	Lengthens vowel sound; can replace an old 's'
Diaeresis	ë ï ü	le tréma	Indicates separate pronunciation of vowels
Cedilla	ç	la cédille	Makes soft ‘s’ sound from letter C before a/o/u

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🗣️ What Each Accent Does

1. L’accent aigu (é)

• Only used on the letter E
• Turns the sound from /uh/ to /ay/

Example:

• éléphant → sounds like ay-lay-fahnt
• été (summer) → clear /ay/ sound

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2. L’accent grave (è, à, ù)

• Most common on è — makes an open /eh/ sound
• Sometimes used to differentiate words

Examples:

• père (father) vs per (not a word!)
• là (there) vs la (the — feminine article)
• où (where) vs ou (or)

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3. L’accent circonflexe (â, ê, î, ô, û)

• Adds a slightly longer or closed vowel sound
• Sometimes marks where a historic “s” used to be

Examples:

• forêt (forest) ← used to be forest
• hôtel ← was hostel

💡 It's not always pronounced differently, especially in modern French, but it still matters in spelling.

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4. Le tréma (ë, ï, ü)

• Forces vowels to be pronounced separately — no blending!

Examples:

• Noël (Christmas) → noh-el, not nwel
• Haïti → ah-ee-tee

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5. La cédille (ç)

• Only used on the letter C before a, o, or u
• Softens “C” to an “S” sound

Examples:

• garçon → gar-son
• leçon (lesson) → luh-son

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🧠 Grammar & Writing Tips

• Accents must be used correctly in written French — even in casual messages.
• Missing or incorrect accents can change the meaning of a word:
  • a (has) vs à (to)
  • du (some) vs dû (due)
  • des (some) vs dès (since)

Even proper nouns can include accents: André, Beyoncé!

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📝 Exercises (Try these!)

✍️ 1. Match the accent to the word

Fill in the correct accent:

• él__phant
• p__re
• f__ret
• No__l
• le__on

🧩 Answers:

• éléphant → accent aigu
• père → grave
• fôret → circumflex
• Noël → tréma
• leçon → cédille

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✍️ 2. Differentiate the meaning

Choose the correct word based on the accent:

• Je vais __ la gare. (à / a)
• Elle __ un chien. (a / à)
• Tu habites __ Paris ? (où / ou)

🧩 Answers:

• à (to the station)
• a (has a dog)
• où (where)