Liaison and elision: hearing connected French
Hear the difference between liaison, elision and enchaînement, including the connections French does not make.
A sentence does not sound like a row of isolated dictionary entries. French links sounds across word boundaries, which helps explain why a phrase you understand on paper can be difficult to recognize in speech.
Distinguish three phenomena: liaison introduces a normally silent final consonant; elision removes a written vowel in specific forms; enchaînement links a consonant that was already pronounced.
Hear the difference in familiar phrases
In les amis, the final consonant of les is heard as /z/ before the vowel. In j’ai, the vowel of je is omitted and the spelling records the elision with an apostrophe. In avec elle, the /k/ was already part of avec; it connects to the following vowel without becoming a liaison consonant.
| Phenomenon | Example | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Liaison | vous avez | A normally silent consonant becomes audible. |
| Elision | l’ami | A vowel is omitted in an eligible word. |
| Enchaînement | avec elle | An existing consonant joins the next syllable. |
Not every word boundary takes a liaison
Some liaisons are expected, some depend on register, and others are forbidden. Do not add a /t/ after et in et elle. An aspirated h can also block liaison and elision, as in les héros and le héros.
Learn these constraints with examples and consult a pronunciation reference when uncertain. Adding connections everywhere can make speech less accurate rather than more natural.
Practise short sound groups
Choose a short recording with a transcript. Listen, mark connections, then repeat a few words together rather than reading one word at a time. Return to the audio without looking and check whether you recognize the group.
Include speakers from different Francophone backgrounds. Connected speech is not limited to France, and pronunciation varies. The goal is clearer recognition and understandable speech, not imitation of a single voice or exaggerated linking between every word.
Sources and review
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