The French alphabet contains the same 26 letters as the English alphabet, but many are pronounced differently. It includes 6 vowels (A, E, I, O, U, Y).

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, À, Â, Æ, Ç, É, È, Ê, Ë, Î, Ï, Ô, Œ, Ù, Û, Ü, Ÿ

a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z, à, â, æ, ç, é, è, ê, ë, î, ï, ô, œ, ù, û, ü, ÿ

Pronunciation

Uppercase Letters

A (ah), B (bay), C (say), D (day), E (euh), F (effe), G (jay), H (ash), I (ee), J (jee), K (kah), L (elle), M (emme), N (enne), O (oh), P (pay), Q (ku), R (air), S (esse), T (tay), U (oo), V (vay), W (doobl-vay), X (eeks), Y (ee-grek), Z (zed)

Special Characters & Accented Letters

À (ah),  (ah), Æ (ay), Ç (say-deeyuh), É (ay), È (eh), Ê (eh), Ë (eh), Î (ee), Ï (ee), Ô (oh), Œ (eu), Ù (oo), Û (oo), Ü (oo), Ÿ (ee-grek)

Lowercase Letters

a (ah), b (bay), c (say), d (day), e (euh), f (effe), g (jay), h (ash), i (ee), j (jee), k (kah), l (elle), m (emme), n (enne), o (oh), p (pay), q (ku), r (air), s (esse), t (tay), u (oo), v (vay), w (doobl-vay), x (eeks), y (ee-grek), z (zed)

Lowercase Special Characters

à (ah), â (ah), æ (ay), ç (say-deeyuh), é (ay), è (eh), ê (eh), ë (eh), î (ee), ï (ee), ô (oh), œ (eu), ù (oo), û (oo), ü (oo), ÿ (ee-grek)

Diacritics (Accents) and Ligatures

French uses five accents and two ligatures (linked letters). While they alter pronunciation or word meaning, they do not count as separate letters in the alphabet. 

• Accent Aigu (É): Only used on the letter "E". It makes an "ay" sound. 

• Accent Grave (À, È, Ù): Changes the "E" sound to an open "eh". On "A" and "U", it distinguishes words that sound identical (e.g., ou meaning "or" vs. où meaning "where").

• Accent Circonflexe (Â, Ê, Î, Ô, Û): Looks like a small hat. It usually denotes a historical "S" that was dropped from the language over time (e.g., hôpital).

• Tréma (Ë, Ï, Ü, Ÿ): Two dots placed over a vowel to show that it must be pronounced separately from the vowel preceding it (e.g., maïs).

• Cédille (Ç): Only placed under the letter "C" to force an "S" sound before the vowels A, O, or U (e.g., garçon).

• Ligatures (Æ, Œ): Letters fused together, found in words like sœur (sister) or chef-d'œuvre(masterpiece)