LingoDrop
French · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "court" in French?
koor — a hard "k", the back "oo" of "soup", and a throat "r". The "t" is silent.
One syllable ending on the "r". The word is a homophone of "cour" (courtyard) and "cours" (course, class), so French relies entirely on context to tell three common words apart.
Listen: court
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Hear it in a sentence
Ce film est court.
This movie is short.
Listen: Ce film est court.
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"Ce film est court" ends on the adjective, so the throat "r" gets its full length. "Film" is one syllable in French too, with a light forward "l". There is no liaison anywhere in this sentence, so it is a good one for practising clean word boundaries: suh-FEELM-eh-KOOR.
Where English speakers slip
The English word "court" supplies the wrong vowel — an "or" sound — and an American "r" that swallows it. French wants the back "oo" of "soup" and a separate throat rasp after it. The final "t" then needs deleting. Learners who master that often over-apply it and drop the "t" from "courte" as well, where it is fully pronounced.