Common mistakes
French et vs est: never add a linking t after et
Keep et alors and Léa et Alice free of a linking t. Compare est ouvert, read a short meeting scene and check both pronunciation and spelling.
- A2
- 4 corrections
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In short
Et means ‘and’ and never makes liaison with the next word: et alors has no linking /t/. Est means ‘is’ and can supply /t/, as in est ouvert. In a common reference pronunciation, et is /e/ and est is /ɛ/; the vowel distinction varies with accent.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn
- et alors · /e alɔʁ/A linking /t/ before alorsTwo vowels meet across the boundary
Et alors, qu’est-ce qu’on fait ?So, what do we do?
Keep the t silent. You can move smoothly between the vowels without adding a consonant.
- Léa et AliceA linking /t/ between et and AliceEt joins the two names
Léa et Alice travaillent ensemble.Léa and Alice work together.
A name beginning with a vowel leaves the rule unchanged: no liaison after et.
- est ouvert · /ɛtuvɛʁ/The same boundary rule as etThe verb est can supply linking /t/
Le bureau est ouvert.The office is open.
This is a verb followed by a description. Liaison after est is frequent here; it is a different construction from conjunction et.
- est / etAlways distinguishable by the vowel aloneDifferent sentence roles, even when vowels coincide
Il est calme et attentif.He is calm and attentive.
Est gives the description; et joins two adjectives. Some speakers use the same vowel in both words, so the sentence remains your spelling guide.
Is there a liaison after et in French?
- Nora
Léa et Alice sont là ?
Are Léa and Alice here?
- Sam
Léa est ici. Alice arrive bientôt.
Léa is here. Alice will arrive soon.
- Nora
Le bureau est ouvert ?
Is the office open?
- Sam
Oui. Et ensuite, on va où ?
Yes. And where do we go next?
In the scene, et Alice and et ensuite keep the conjunction’s t silent. In est ici and est ouvert, /t/ is a possible connection after the verb. The useful unit is the pair of words and its grammar.
What is the difference between et and est?
Try replacing the word with était. Il était calme works, so write il est calme. Calme était attentif fails, so use calme et attentif. For the sound, apply the boundary rule after you have identified the word.