French apostrophes: check j’, l’, qu’ and s’il in three steps

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Find the word behind a French apostrophe, check the next sound and restore the correct spelling. Includes h cases, si versus se and ten practice questions.

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In short

Find the short word behind the apostrophe, then check what follows it. Words such as je, le, la, de and que lose their final vowel before a vowel or mute h: j’arrive, l’heure, qu’elle. Si shortens only before il and ils: s’il, s’ils.

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An adult puts on a plain green jacket in a French apartment entrance beside a mirror, viewed from behind at a distance.
The morning scene gives il s’habille a context. Illustration: Atelier

When do you use an apostrophe in French?

Expand it for analysis, then write the joined form
What you readUnderlying wordsIts job
J’arrive.je + arriveJe is the subject.
L’heure change.la + heureLa is the feminine article.
Elle m’attend.me + attendMe is the object pronoun.
Je sais qu’elle vient.que + elleQue joins the clauses.
Il s’habille.se + habilleSe belongs to the reflexive verb.
S’il vient, préviens-moi.si + ilSi introduces the condition.

The expansion tells you which rule to use. In il s’habille, s’ comes from se. In s’il vient, it comes from si. Those two words produce the same written fragment, but they have different patterns. Se shortens before a suitable vowel-initial verb form, as in s’arrêter. Si stays whole before elle: si elle vient.

2. Check the following word, including its h

l’habitudethe habit

Focus: mute h permits elision

la + habitude → l’habitude

J’ai l’habitude de me lever tôt.
I’m used to getting up early.

le hasardchance

Focus: aspirated h blocks elision

Keep le before hasard.

C’est le hasard.
It’s chance.

Neither kind of h is normally sounded. The difference is whether it allows elision and liaison. A dictionary marks aspirated h, often with an asterisk: check its notation key. Learn the article with the noun, such as l’habitude or le hasard, so the boundary becomes part of the word you remember.

3. Restore the spelling in the complete sentence

Je me douche et je m’habille.

I have a shower and get dressed.

Me stays whole before douche and becomes m’ before habille. Keep je whole before both verbs here.

Before you add an apostrophe

A self-review aid, not a grade. Ticks are not saved.

Now choose the joined form for each gap. Use the underlying words in the prompt to decide which vowel goes. Keep the accents and leave no space after the apostrophe. Each answer restores the complete spelling in its sentence.

Question 1No account needed
Join je + arrive.___ à huit heures.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

J’arrive. Je loses its final vowel before arrive: j’arrive.

Question 2No account needed
Join la + heure.___ change.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

L’heure. Heure has mute h, so the article becomes l’.

Question 3No account needed
Join me + habille.Je ___ avant de partir.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

m’habille. The reflexive pronoun me shortens before the mute h of habille.

Question 4No account needed
Join que + elle.Je pense ___ vient demain.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

qu’elle. Que loses its final e, leaving qu’ before elle.

Question 5No account needed
Join de + eau.Un verre ___, s’il vous plaît.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

d’eau. After un verre, de joins directly to eau: d’eau.

Question 6No account needed
Join si + il.___ vient, préviens-moi.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

S’il. Si shortens before il, giving s’il.

Question 7No account needed
Join si + ils.___ viennent, préviens-moi.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

S’ils. Si also shortens before plural ils: s’ils.

Question 8No account needed
Join je + écoute.Le matin, ___ la radio.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

j’écoute. Je becomes j’ before écoute, and the acute accent stays.

Question 9No account needed
Keep the subject feminine: join si + elle.___ vient, préviens-moi.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Si elle. Si stays whole before elle: write si elle vient.

Question 10No account needed
Choose the ordinary spelling.

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

le hasard. The aspirated h of hasard blocks elision: keep le hasard.

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