Common mistakes
Un enfant adorable: where French liaison stops
Compare un enfant adorable with petit enfant. Find the singular-noun boundary, avoid an extra t, and keep consonants already pronounced in livre or table.
- B1
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In short
In ordinary conversation, keep the final t of enfant silent before adorable: un enfant adorable. In petit enfant, the adjective comes before the noun and supplies a linking /t/. The grammatical relationship tells you which boundary can link.
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| Pair | Relationship | Sound at the boundary |
|---|---|---|
| un enfant | determiner + noun | linking /n/ |
| petit enfant | adjective before noun | linking /t/ |
| enfant adorable | singular noun + adjective | no linking /t/ |
| étudiant arrive | singular noun + verb | no linking /t/ |
- un enfant adorableAdding /t/ after a singular nounKeep the noun’s final t silent
C’est un enfant adorable.He’s an adorable child.
Un enfant has its own /n/ liaison. Then move from the nasal vowel at the end of enfant to the vowel of adorable. Keep the phrase flowing; a pause is optional.
- un étudiant arriveTreating a noun subject like a plural pronounKeep the final t of étudiant silent
Un étudiant arrive demain.A student is arriving tomorrow.
A singular noun subject supplies no liaison here. Compare ils arrivent: its subject is a pronoun, which has a different linking pattern.
- une table ancienneRemoving the noun’s pronounced final /l/Keep the consonant already in the word
Cette table ancienne est solide.This old table is sturdy.
Table is /tabl/. Its /l/ is present even when the word is said alone. Moving that consonant into the next syllable is called enchaînement.
- un livre intéressantAdding a new consonant after the nounUse the consonants already pronounced
J’ai lu un livre intéressant.I read an interesting book.
Livre ends in pronounced /vʁ/. Those sounds can connect to intéressant. The smooth connection comes from the word’s existing sounds.
Before the noun or after it?
Un petit enfant. Un enfant adorable.
A small child. An adorable child.
In the first phrase, petit supplies /t/ before its noun. In the second, the singular noun enfant stays without final /t/.
A smooth phrase can contain several different connections. Un enfant adorable has /n/ after un and no /t/ after enfant. Vous êtes ici has /z/ after vous and the existing /t/ of êtes before ici. Name the exact two words each time you explain a sound.