Meaning of Accent
Accent means a particular way of pronouncing words that relates to the country, area or social class a person comes from. An accent is a stress or emphasis on a particular part of something, usually a word. Accents are symbols placed over the vowels to change a word's meaning or pronunciation. It is very important that accents should be placed in proper positions because an incorrect or a slight miss in accent then can sound really weird. An important thing to know about pronouncing French words is that the French accent marks can completely change the pronunciation of a word.
There are basically four accents for vowels and one accent for a consonant and they are as follows:
1. l'accent aigu (acute accent) – é
2. l'accent grave (grave accent) – à, è, ù
3. la cédille (cedilla) – ç
4. l'accent circonflexe (circumflex) – â, ê, î, ô, û
5. l'accent tréma (trema) – ë, ï, ü
Definition and Examples -
1. Accent Aigu [/]: The accent aigu (acute accent) is é. The accent aigu is only used on the letter ‘e’
Ex: clé, réaction, café
2. Accent Grave [`]: This accent is used only in letters ‘a’ ‘e’ ‘u’ The accent grave (grave accent) à, è, ù. Ex : j’espère, très, mère, à, où
With a and u, the accent grave is used to differentiate some words; - à "to" versus a "has" où "where" versus ou "or"
3. Accent Circonflexe [^] : This accent is always found on vowels ‘a’ ‘e’ ‘i' ‘o’ ‘u’
The accent circonflexe (circumflex) â, ê, î, ô, û. The accent circonflex indicates that it should be pronounced longer than usual. Ex: être, hôtel, août, gâteau
4. Accent Trema [ .. ]: It is placed on the vowels ‘i,' ‘e,’ ‘u’
Accent tréma, or the dieresis looks like two little dots above the letter and is used with e, i, and u (ë/ï/ü). It indicates that the letter in the French word should be pronounced distinctly from the vowel that precedes it - for example, Noël (Christmas). Ex: noël, naïve, saül
5. Accent Cedille [ç] : This accent found in underneath the lettre ‘C’ Ex: ça va, garçon, français, leçon
French accents are not usually written when they appear above a capital letter.This is the only French accent mark that is used with a consonant - letter c. It looks like a little hook, and the final letter is called c cédille. And it has only one function. Une cédille is used to change a hard c, pronounced /k/, to a soft c, pronounced /s/ - for example, in garçon - boy.It appears, for example, when c is followed by a hard vowel but needs a soft pronunciation.
Please note: c is already soft in front of e, i, and y - so you can’t put a cédille there.
Accent means a particular way of pronouncing words that relates to the country, area or social class a person comes from. An accent is a stress or emphasis on a particular part of something, usually a word. Accents are symbols placed over the vowels to change a word's meaning or pronunciation. It is very important that accents should be placed in proper positions because an incorrect or a slight miss in accent then can sound really weird. An important thing to know about pronouncing French words is that the French accent marks can completely change the pronunciation of a word.
There are basically four accents for vowels and one accent for a consonant and they are as follows:
1. l'accent aigu (acute accent) – é
2. l'accent grave (grave accent) – à, è, ù
3. la cédille (cedilla) – ç
4. l'accent circonflexe (circumflex) – â, ê, î, ô, û
5. l'accent tréma (trema) – ë, ï, ü
Definition and Examples -
1. Accent Aigu [/]: The accent aigu (acute accent) is é. The accent aigu is only used on the letter ‘e’
Ex: clé, réaction, café
2. Accent Grave [`]: This accent is used only in letters ‘a’ ‘e’ ‘u’ The accent grave (grave accent) à, è, ù. Ex : j’espère, très, mère, à, où
With a and u, the accent grave is used to differentiate some words; - à "to" versus a "has" où "where" versus ou "or"
3. Accent Circonflexe [^] : This accent is always found on vowels ‘a’ ‘e’ ‘i' ‘o’ ‘u’
The accent circonflexe (circumflex) â, ê, î, ô, û. The accent circonflex indicates that it should be pronounced longer than usual. Ex: être, hôtel, août, gâteau
4. Accent Trema [ .. ]: It is placed on the vowels ‘i,' ‘e,’ ‘u’
Accent tréma, or the dieresis looks like two little dots above the letter and is used with e, i, and u (ë/ï/ü). It indicates that the letter in the French word should be pronounced distinctly from the vowel that precedes it - for example, Noël (Christmas). Ex: noël, naïve, saül
5. Accent Cedille [ç] : This accent found in underneath the lettre ‘C’ Ex: ça va, garçon, français, leçon
French accents are not usually written when they appear above a capital letter.This is the only French accent mark that is used with a consonant - letter c. It looks like a little hook, and the final letter is called c cédille. And it has only one function. Une cédille is used to change a hard c, pronounced /k/, to a soft c, pronounced /s/ - for example, in garçon - boy.It appears, for example, when c is followed by a hard vowel but needs a soft pronunciation.
Please note: c is already soft in front of e, i, and y - so you can’t put a cédille there.
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