Ch. 2: What You Already Know Flashcards
This set functions to see what you already know, which is a lot more than you think.
bons alliés
French words that are spelled the same and mean the same thing as their English counterparts. There may be a difference in pronunciation
Ex.: excellent (second e changes sounds in French, third is nasalized)
kissing cousins
French words that are spelled similarly to their English counterparts. You can figure out their meanings quickly with how they’re spelled
Ex.: le miroir, meaning “mirror”
faux amis
French words that are spelled similar to an English words, but mean something different.
Ex.: actuellement (looks similar to “actually” in English, but it really means “now.”)
l’alphabet
This consists of the same 26 letters as English does, although the names are pronounced differently.
Romance language
French is an example of this type of language. All of them are based on Latin, and their sound is based mostly on vowels, unlike English and German, which focus on consonants for their sound.
l’accent aigu (é)
the sharp accent
This accent mark only appears over e. The sound of the e is affected to sound close to the a in “take.”
Ex.: le café (coffee, café)
l’accent grave (è/à/ù)
the grave accent
This accent can appear over e, a, or u. However, it affects sound only in e, making it an open sound. Over a and u, this accent distinguishes two words, which would otherwise be spelled the same.
Ex.: la mère (mother), à (to, in, at), où (where)
l’accent circonflexe (â/ê/î/ô/û)
the circumflex accent
This appears over all five vowels. It will represent a letter – usually an s – that was dropped from the French word centuries ago but may remain in the English word.
Ex.: l’hôpital (hospital), le château (castle, chateau), l’intérêt (interest)
le tréma (ë/ï/ü/ÿ)
dieresis
This indicates that back-to-back vowels are pronounced separately from each other.
Ex.: naïf (naïve), Noël (Christmas)
la cédille (ç)
the cedilla
This accent only appears under c. It indicates that you pronounce the c as an s before a, o, or u.
Ex.: Commençons
liaison
Linking the last consonant of a word, which is usually pronounced, with the vowel that begins the next.
elision
A word ending in an e or an a is followed by a word that starts with a vowel or mute h. The first e or a disappears and is replaced by an apostrophe. Most commonly, the words je (I), me (me), te (you in the singular form used as an object), le (the/it/him), la (the/it/her), and que (that)
