French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "dans" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce dans in French?

dans is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /dɑ̃/. It means “in / inside.” dahn through the nose — one nasal syllable, with both the "n" and the "s" silent as consonants.

dahn through the nose — one nasal syllable, with both the "n" and the "s" silent as consonants.

dans /dɑ̃/

One unstressed nasal beat introducing a location. In "dans le sac" the phrase peaks on SAC, with "dans" as a quick lead-in.

Listen: dans

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Sound it out

d A dental "d".

an The nasal vowel /ɑ̃/. Mouth open toward "ah", air out through the nose, tongue flat and unmoving. This is the same nasal as in "blanc", "en" and "temps".

s Silent, but it comes back as a "z" in liaison before a vowel — which is why "dans un sac" sounds like dahn-ZUN-sak.

Hear it in a sentence

Les clés sont dans le sac.

The keys are in the bag.

Listen: Les clés sont dans le sac.

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"Les clés sont dans le sac" has no liaison after "dans" because "le" begins with a consonant, so you hear the bare nasal vowel and then the article. "Clés" ends in a closed "ay" with a silent plural "s", and "sont" ends in a silent "t" — so of the six words, three have silent final letters. That is entirely normal for French.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers read "dans" and produce "danz" or "dahns", pronouncing both hidden letters. Neither sounds on its own. The vowel is also frequently made too far forward, closer to the "a" of "cat" nasalized, when /ɑ̃/ is a back, open vowel — think of the "aw" in "dawn" routed through the nose. Get that vowel right and "dans", "blanc", "en", "temps" and "grand" all fall into place at once.