French G Pronunciation - Mon Français

Pronunciation of the Letter G in French

Introduction

In French, the letter "g" has two main different pronunciations, depending on the vowels that follow it. This difference in pronunciation can be challenging for French learners, but with a bit of practice, you'll quickly understand the rule!

The G Pronunciation Rule

The letter "g" is pronounced in two different ways:

[g] as in "go" - hard sound.
[ʒ] similar to the "s" in "measure" - soft sound.

The rule is as follows:

"g" is pronounced [g] (hard) before the vowels a, o, u, or a consonant
"g" is pronounced [ʒ] (soft) before the vowels e, i, y
To get a [g] (hard) sound before e, i, y, add a "u" after the "g" → "gu"
To get a [ʒ] (soft) sound before a, o, u, add an "e" after the "g" → "ge"

Examples with the Hard Sound [g]

Spelling	Examples	English meaning
g + a	gare garçon gâteau	train station boy cake
g + o	gorge golf goût	throat golf taste
g + u	guide guépard gueule	guide cheetah mouth (of an animal)
g + consonant	grand gris glace	tall/big gray ice cream/mirror
gu + e/i/y	guerre guitare guichet	war guitar counter/ticket window

Examples with the Soft Sound [ʒ]

Spelling	Examples	English meaning
g + e	gentil génial geste	nice/kind great/brilliant gesture
g + i	gilet girafe gigot	vest/waistcoat giraffe leg of lamb
g + y	gymnastique gyroscope Égypte	gymnastics gyroscope Egypt
ge + a/o/u	geai Georges mangeons	jay (bird) George (we) eat

Special Cases

The "g + n" combination

When "g" is followed by "n", it forms a special sound [ɲ], similar to the Spanish "ñ" or the "ni" in "onion", as in:

montagne (mountain)
agneau (lamb)
champignon (mushroom)

Words of foreign origin

Some words of foreign origin don't follow the usual rules:

"ping-pong" - [piŋ pɔŋ]
"gang" - [gaŋ]

Pronunciation Exercises

1. Simple Repetition

Listen and repeat these words with the [g] sound:

gare, goutte, grand, guerre, guitare

Listen and repeat these words with the [ʒ] sound:

gentil, gilet, gymnase, mangeons, voyage

2. Practice Phrases

Repeat these phrases:

"Le garçon mange un gâteau au goûter."
(The boy eats a cake for snack time.)
"Geneviève a fait un geste généreux."
(Genevieve made a generous gesture.)
"La guerre des girafes à Guéret était gigantesque."
(The giraffe war in Guéret was gigantic.)

3. Mini-dialogue

- Bonjour Guillaume, tu vas à la gare ?
(Hello Guillaume, are you going to the train station?)

- Oui, j'ai un voyage organisé pour visiter une grotte en Égypte.
(Yes, I have an organized trip to visit a cave in Egypt.)

- Génial ! Je te souhaite un agréable séjour !
(Great! I wish you a pleasant stay!)

Final Exercise

Note all the words containing the hard [g] sound in this text:

Guillaume et Gabriel vont au grand magasin. Ils achètent une guitare, un globe et un joli gâteau. En sortant, ils rencontrent Geneviève qui mange une glace en regardant les gens. Guillaume suggère à ses amis d'aller au golf cet après-midi.

(Guillaume and Gabriel go to the department store. They buy a guitar, a globe, and a nice cake. On their way out, they meet Geneviève who eats an ice cream while watching people. Guillaume suggests to his friends to go to the golf course this afternoon.)

Interactive Exercise

Identify the "g" sound in the following words:

The word "gare" (train station) contains the sound:
The word "geste" (gesture) contains the sound:
The word "géographie" (geography) contains the sound:
The word "guichet" (counter/ticket window) contains the sound:
The word "mangeons" (we eat) contains the sound:

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