LingoDrop
French · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "demander" in French?
duh-mahn-DAY — three syllables, a nasal in the middle, and no "r" sound at the end.
de-man-DER, with the lift on the third syllable. The first syllable is reduced and the second is nasal, so the word has a characteristic rising shape from almost nothing to a clear "ay".
Listen: demander
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
Je vais demander l'addition.
I'm going to ask for the check.
Listen: Je vais demander l'addition.
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"Je vais demander l'addition" is the near future plus an infinitive, and "l'addition" is the word you actually want in a restaurant — asking for "le compte" or "la facture" will mark you as a tourist. It shows elision ("la" becoming "l'") and ends in the "-tion" spelling, which in French is pronounced "syon": la-dee-SYOHN.
Where English speakers slip
The English word "demand" is right there and pulls hard: it stresses the second syllable, uses a full "dee" at the front, and pronounces the "n". French wants a schwa at the front, a nasal in the middle, and the stress at the end. Note the meaning differs too — French "demander" is simply "to ask", not the forceful English "demand", which would be "exiger".