Vocabulary list
French /w/ in oui and jouer: 11 useful words to practise
Meet the /w/ glide in oui, jouer, boire and everyday words. Learn four pictured nouns, compare roue with jouer, then try a short pronunciation check.
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In short
French /w/ is a quick rounded glide into a vowel, much like the start of English “we”. Oui /wi/ and jouer /ʒwe/ normally have one syllable each. Keep the glide short, then let the following vowel carry the syllable.
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Short words you can use straight away
Actions and a colour
Four things to picture
Find the /w/ words
Find:
How do you pronounce oui and jouer?
roue /ʁu/wheel
Focus: /u/ is a full vowel
One syllable centred on /u/
La roue tourne.
The wheel turns.
jouer /ʒwe/to play
Focus: /w/ moves into the full vowel /e/
One syllable centred on /e/
Les enfants veulent jouer.
The children want to play.
Round your lips as for ou, then move quickly into the vowel of oui. Say it as one beat. Do the same after the first consonant of jouer: /ʒ/ + /w/ + /e/, all in one syllable. Keep jouer compact when it follows another verb: Je veux jouer. The spelling ou leads to /u/ in roue, but to a glide before the vowel in this pronunciation of jouer.
The full vowel in roue
Find:
The second picture set contains full /u/ vowels: roue /ʁu/, joue /ʒu/, chou /ʃu/ and loup /lu/. Compare joue with jouer: adding the infinitive ending changes the sound shape. You still have one syllable in the compact pronunciation of each word. Use the pictures to recall the meaning, then say the word before revealing its label.