Common mistakes
French double consonants: pomme has one /m/, poisson has /s/
Double French letters usually do not mean a longer consonant. Compare pomme, tasse, coussin and ville, with picture examples and four checks.
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In short
Doubled consonant letters usually represent one consonant sound: pomme is /pɔm/ and tasse is /tas/. Their spelling still matters: coussin has /s/, while cousin has /z/. Read the sound pattern of the whole word.
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- pomme · /pɔm/Two separate m soundsOne /m/ in a one-syllable word
Tu veux une pomme ?Would you like an apple?
Let the vowel lead straight into /m/. Keep both m letters when you write pomme.
- tasse · /tas/An extra-long s just because there are two lettersOne /s/ sound
Cette tasse est pour toi.This cup is for you.
Here ss gives /s/. It adds neither a syllable nor a fixed extra duration.
- cousin / coussinThe same consonant, held for different lengths/z/ in cousin; /s/ in coussin
Mon cousin prend le coussin bleu.My cousin takes the blue cushion.
Between vowel letters, single s usually gives /z/; ss gives /s/. Compare poison /pwazɔ̃/ and poisson /pwasɔ̃/ too.
- ville / filleDouble l always means /l//vil/ and /fij/
Ma fille habite en ville.My daughter lives in town.
Ville keeps /l/; fille has the glide /j/. The number of l letters does not decide the sound.
Four things, four whole-word models
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When can a consonant sound longer?
An emphatic C’est excellent ! can stretch sounds for effect. Adjacent words can also put the same consonant together: une petite table brings the final /t/ of petite beside the initial /t/ of table. These are features of the spoken phrase, rather than a rule to double every written consonant.
Some speakers also use a longer /ʁ/ in particular verb forms, such as courrai. Keep that with the verb form you learn. It gives no reason to lengthen the /m/ of an ordinary pomme or to turn ville into two syllables.
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| poison | /pwazɔ̃/ | poison |
| poisson | /pwasɔ̃/ | fish |
| cousin | /kuzɛ̃/ | male cousin |
| coussin | /kusɛ̃/ | cushion |