Use of the cedilla

peter b.C1Kwiziq community member

Use of the cedilla

With Vivre: I see --------- Ils ont vécu With décevoir I see -------- nous avons déçu I wonder why the cedilla with one but not the other
Asked 6 years ago
AurélieNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Bonjour Peter !

The reason is one of pronunciation :)

In the case of "çu", we want to preserve the pronunciation of the root of the verb "cevoir", i.e. [ss], hence the use of the cedilla in front of "u".

As for "vécu", there's no such imperative, so we just use "cu", which is pronounced [ku].

I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !

Use of the cedilla

With Vivre: I see --------- Ils ont vécu With décevoir I see -------- nous avons déçu I wonder why the cedilla with one but not the other

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