Five common French words… are you pronouncing them right?
instinct
The ct on the end of instinct is silent. The inct ending sounds just like the in at the beginning of the word. Say in-stin.
poing
Your fist is your poing in French. Poing sounds just like the French word point.
shampooing
Shampoo in French is called shampooing. The pooing part (yes, I just said the pooing part), sounds like the French word poing, which we just saw above. The sham part sounds the French word chant. Say chant-point.
cou
Your neck is your cou in French. It’s easy enough to pronounce; it’s just that you don’t want to confuse it with the word for another body part, a little farther down. Cou rhymes with fou. The ou part sounds just like the French word où. The word you don’t want to confuse cou with is cul…
cul
Your arse is your cul in French. How do you pronounce cul? Cul rhymes with tu, bu, su, dû, which use the French u sound (not ou). Don’t pronounce the l on the end of cul.
- instinct
- poing
- shampooing
- cou
- cul
Thanks for this! I was indeed pronouncing all these words (especially the first three) incorrectly!