French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "content" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce content in French?

content is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /kɔ̃.tɑ̃/. It means “glad / pleased.” kohn-TAHN — two different nasal vowels back to back, and neither "n" nor the final "t" is pronounced.

kohn-TAHN — two different nasal vowels back to back, and neither "n" nor the final "t" is pronounced.

content /kɔ̃.tɑ̃/

con-TENT, weight on the second syllable. Both syllables are nasal and open-ended, so the word has almost no hard edges — it hums rather than clicks.

Listen: content

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Sound it out

con The nasal vowel /ɔ̃/ after a hard "k": rounded lips, air out through the nose, tongue low and still.

ten An unaspirated "t" plus the other nasal vowel, /ɑ̃/: open mouth, unrounded. Hearing the difference between the two nasals in this one word is excellent practice.

t Silent in the masculine. The feminine "contente" makes it audible.

Hear it in a sentence

Je suis content de te voir.

I'm glad to see you.

Listen: Je suis content de te voir.

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"Je suis content de te voir" uses "content de" plus an infinitive, which is the fixed pattern for being pleased to do something. "De te voir" strings three light syllables together, with "voir" as one beat: duh-tuh-VWAR. If a woman said this she would write "contente" and pronounce the "t", making the last syllable /tɑ̃t/.

Where English speakers slip

The English adjective "content" is spelled identically and gets substituted outright, complete with real "n"s and a released "t". French has two nasal vowels and no consonants at the end at all. The two nasals are also frequently merged — /ɔ̃/ has rounded lips, /ɑ̃/ has an open mouth. Say "bon" then "blanc" to feel the difference, then build the word from those two shapes.