French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "en colère" in French?

ahn ko-LEHR — a nasal opening, then an open "eh" and a throat "r".

en colère /ɑ̃ kɔ.lɛʁ/

The phrase peaks on -LÈRE. This is a fixed expression — "être en colère" — so it behaves as one unit and the noun inside it never takes an article.

Listen: en colère

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Sound it out

en The nasal vowel /ɑ̃/, open and routed through the nose, tongue lying still.

co A hard "k" plus a short open "o" as in "cot", unstressed.

lère A light "l", an open "eh" marked by the grave accent, then a final uvular "r" kept audible by the silent "e".

Hear it in a sentence

Il est en colère contre moi.

He's angry with me.

Listen: Il est en colère contre moi.

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"Il est en colère contre moi" links "il est" into one unit, /i.l‿ɛ/, and then "est en" links again with the "t" of "est" surfacing: /ɛ.t‿ɑ̃/. So the first three words run together. French uses "contre" for being angry with someone, not "avec" — that preposition is a common error point.

Where English speakers slip

The nasal gets a real "n" and the final vowel gets swallowed by an American "r". Both need attention. The preposition is the other trap: "en colère avec" is wrong; French says "en colère contre". And note that "colère" as a bare noun means anger, so "une colère" is a fit of rage.