French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "elle" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce elle in French?

elle is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɛl/. It means “she / it (f.).” ell — like the English letter L. One syllable, open "eh" vowel, light "l".

ell — like the English letter L. One syllable, open "eh" vowel, light "l".

elle /ɛl/

One unstressed syllable feeding the verb. Unlike "il", it does not usually reduce away in speech, so "elle" tends to be more audible than its masculine counterpart — useful when you are trying to catch who is doing what.

Listen: elle

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Sound it out

e An open "eh" as in "bed". The doubled "ll" that follows is what keeps this vowel open rather than turning it into a schwa.

lle A single light "l" sound, despite the two letters, followed by a silent "e". The doubling is a spelling signal about the vowel, not an instruction to hold the consonant longer.

Hear it in a sentence

Elle habite à Marseille.

She lives in Marseille.

Listen: Elle habite à Marseille.

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"Elle habite à Marseille" contains an elision-adjacent link: "habite" begins with a mute "h", so "elle habite" runs straight together as /ɛ.la.bit/, with the "l" carrying onto the next vowel. "Marseille" ends with the "-eille" spelling, pronounced "ay" plus a "y" glide: mar-SEY. The final "e" is silent.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers make the vowel too closed, drifting toward "ale" or "ail", when it should be the flat open "eh" of "bed". The other error is treating the doubled "ll" as a "y" sound, since "-ille" so often works that way in French ("fille", "famille"). After "e" the "ll" stays a plain "l" — "elle", "belle", "quelle" all have a normal "l".