Le/les, de/du

Muibat O.A1Kwiziq community member

Le/les, de/du

Bonjour a tous,

I am new here. Please I find it difficult to identify when le or les is pronounced. The same goes for de/du.Is there any way I can always identify each of these when pronounced?

Merci.

Asked 4 years ago
Zeraine L.A1Kwiziq community memberCorrect answer

Le sounds like "luh"

Les sounds like "leh". If the next word after "les" starts with a vowel, it'll be pronounced  like "lez"

 

"de" sounds like "duh"

to pronounce the u in "du", first, say "eee". While doing so, round your lips. That's how you pronounce the French's u in general.

 

Hope I helped.

 

David I.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Hi! Le rhymes with je! Les is pronounced "lay". 
De also rhymes with je. Du rhymes with tu (familiar form or you).

CécileNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq

Thanks, guys, it is always helpful to have non-native inputs for pronunciation help.

My students used to find the -u of rue difficult to pronounce as there's no real equivalent in English but some students knew how to say -


correctly.

This might help!

Le/les, de/du

Bonjour a tous,

I am new here. Please I find it difficult to identify when le or les is pronounced. The same goes for de/du.Is there any way I can always identify each of these when pronounced?

Merci.

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