In Quebec, remember that French speakers pronounce the vowel sounds a and â differently.
The vowel sound â is a more drawn out “aww.” The vowel sound a is a shorter “ah,” like in the French words ma, ta, and sa.
Not all words that contain the â (aww) sound are actually written with the accented letter â, however. For example, the word gaz is often pronounced as gâz, but it’s not spelled that way.
Below are 10 words. See if you can sort them according to whether they are pronounced with an a or â sound. The answers are at the end of this entry.
fatigué, matin, brasser, patte, fâché,
classe, information, jaser, pâte, salle
Try picking out the â sound when you listen to spoken French. If you don’t know where to find listening material in French from Quebec, try 98,5 FM online.
Answers
a vowel sound: fatigué, matin, patte, information, salle
â vowel sound: brasser, fâché, classe, jaser, pâte
