Nasal Sound: on - Mon Français

The Nasal Sound: on/om [ɔ̃]

Introduction

In French, the spellings "on" and "om" are pronounced the same way. This is a nasal sound characteristic of French, where air passes through the nose to pronounce it.

How to pronounce this sound?

To pronounce this sound:

Round your lips well
Place your tongue towards the back
Let air pass through your nose
The mouth is less open than for the "an" sound

Different spellings of the sound

Spelling	Common examples
on	bon (good) maison (house) monter (to go up)
om	nom (name) tomber (to fall) ombre (shadow)
ont	pont (bridge) sont (are) font (do/make)

Pronunciation exercises

1. Simple repetition

Listen and repeat these words:

bon, son, rond, long
maison, ballon, nom, pont

2. Practice sentences

Repeat these sentences:

"Mon ballon est rond." (My ball is round.)
"Ils sont dans la maison." (They are in the house.)
"Ton prénom est long." (Your first name is long.)

3. Mini-dialogue

- Comment s'appelle ton oncle ? (What's your uncle's name?)

- Son nom est Gaston. (His name is Gaston.)

- C'est un bon prénom ! (That's a good first name!)

Final exercise

Circle all the words that contain the studied sound in this text:

Mon oncle habite dans une maison ronde.
Son jardin est long et ses légumes sont bons.
Nous montons souvent sur le pont pour regarder l'horizon.

Translation: My uncle lives in a round house. His garden is long and his vegetables are good. We often go up on the bridge to look at the horizon.

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