French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "entrer" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce entrer in French?

entrer is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ɑ̃.tʁe/. It means “to go in / to come in.” ahn-TRAY — a nasal opening, a throat "r" in the cluster, and a bare "ay" ending.

ahn-TRAY — a nasal opening, a throat "r" in the cluster, and a bare "ay" ending.

entrer /ɑ̃.tʁe/

en-TRER, with the lift on the second syllable. The word has exactly two beats, so resist the English impulse to give the nasal opening its own emphasis.

Listen: entrer

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Sound it out

en The nasal vowel /ɑ̃/. Mouth open toward "ah", air out through the nose, tongue flat and still.

tr An unaspirated "t" straight into the uvular "r". Tongue tip down; the friction is at the back of the throat.

er The -er infinitive ending: a closed "ay" with a completely silent "r".

Hear it in a sentence

Entrez, je vous en prie.

Come in, please.

Listen: Entrez, je vous en prie.

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"Entrez, je vous en prie" is an imperative plus a set politeness formula. "Entrez" is the "vous" command form, still ending in that silent-"z" "ay" sound. "Je vous en prie" is a fixed phrase — literally "I beg you of it" — used both for "please come in" and for "you're welcome", and "vous en" carries an obligatory liaison: /vu.z‿ɑ̃/.

Where English speakers slip

English "enter" leads people straight to "EN-ter", with a real "n", a front vowel, and the stress at the front. All three are wrong here: the vowel is a back nasal made without the tongue touching, and the beat goes to the end. Then the final "r" needs deleting, since -er infinitives end in a bare "ay". Say "ahn" through the nose, then "TRAY".