kerblang2d ago

French e, è, é, ê, ë – what's the difference?

https://jakubmarian.com/french-e-e-e-e-e-whats-the-difference/

French e, è, é, ê, ë – what’s the difference?

A complete explanation of how e, è, é, ê, and ë are used in French, with rules, examples and pronunciation.

Show threadstrongpigeon2d ago

As a native (Québécois) French speaker who's been living in the US for most of my adult life, something I miss from French is that once you've learned the (many) rules, you can be pretty confident about how to pronounce a given word.

English on the other hand has so many exceptions (usually based on the origin of the word), that I still encounter words that I'll mispronounce at first. I can typically pass as a native speaker, until I "leak" by tripping on one of those.

Show threadabrowne2d ago
The other way – trying to spell a word you hear – is harder, since many sounds have multiple possible spellings. Hence la dictée.
Show threadelric
Having grown up in two languages where dictée is a thing, I was always bemused by spelling bees. You have to spell one word? And have loads of time to do so? Pah!
Mar 26 at 4:54pmWeb
Show threadrkomorn2d ago
To be fair, spelling bees usually have more complicated words (though the complicated ones are often borrowed from French anyway so, win-win for some of us).