French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "après" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce après in French?

après is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /a.pʁɛ/. It means “after.” ah-PREH — an unaspirated "p" into a throat "r", a flat open "eh", and a silent "s".

ah-PREH — an unaspirated "p" into a throat "r", a flat open "eh", and a silent "s".

après /a.pʁɛ/

a-PRÈS, weight on the second syllable, which ends in an open vowel. English borrowed "après-ski" with the stress and vowel both shifted, so the French version needs relearning.

Listen: après

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Sound it out

a A short open "ah", unstressed.

pr An unaspirated "p" straight into the uvular "r", with the tongue tip staying down.

è An open "eh" as in "bed". The grave accent marks it as open rather than the closed "ay" of "é".

s Silent, but it surfaces as a "z" in liaison — "après avoir" links across the boundary.

Hear it in a sentence

On se voit après le travail.

See you after work.

Listen: On se voit après le travail.

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"On se voit après le travail" uses a reflexive verb for mutual action — "se voir" means to see each other. "Travail" ends with the "-ail" spelling making a "y" sound: tra-VYE. As with "avant", "après" takes a noun directly but needs a different construction before a verb: "après avoir mangé".

Where English speakers slip

Learners pronounce the "s", giving "a-PRESS", and close the vowel into "ay". The grave accent is telling you the opposite: a flat, open "eh" that stops where it starts. The "pr" cluster also picks up an American "r". Say "ah" then "preh" with the rasp at the back of your throat, and leave the "s" for liaison only.