French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "de" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce de in French?

de is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /də/. It means “of / from.” duh — the shortest word in French, a "d" plus a weak, slightly rounded "uh" that often disappears entirely.

duh — the shortest word in French, a "d" plus a weak, slightly rounded "uh" that often disappears entirely.

de /də/

Never stressed. "de" is a function word that clings to whatever follows it, and the phrase's beat lands on the noun: de PARIS, de MON frère.

Listen: de

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Sound it out

d The tongue touches the back of the upper teeth, slightly further forward than for an English "d", giving it a crisper, more dental quality.

e A schwa with a hint of lip rounding. It is the weakest vowel in the language, and in rapid speech it drops out so that the "d" leans directly on the next word.

Hear it in a sentence

C'est le livre de Julie.

It's Julie's book.

Listen: C'est le livre de Julie.

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"C'est le livre de Julie" is how French expresses possession — there is no apostrophe-s, so "Julie's book" becomes "the book of Julie". "C'est" itself is a contraction of "ce est", squeezed together by elision. Note that "de" here stays as "de" because "Julie" starts with a consonant; before a vowel it would elide to "d'".

Where English speakers slip

The classic error is giving "de" a full, clear vowel, saying "day" or "deh", which makes speech sound laboured and mechanical. It should be barely there. The other habit to break is preserving it before vowels — French requires "d'eau", "d'accord", "d'un", never "de eau". If you catch yourself saying two vowels in a row across that boundary, elide.