French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "jouer" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce jouer in French?

jouer is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /ʒwe/. It means “to play.” zhway — one syllable in ordinary speech. The soft "j" of "measure", then a "w" glide straight into "ay".

zhway — one syllable in ordinary speech. The soft "j" of "measure", then a "w" glide straight into "ay".

jouer /ʒwe/

Usually one syllable, /ʒwe/, though a slow or emphatic delivery can stretch it to two, /ʒu.e/. Either way the beat lands on the final "ay".

Listen: jouer

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Sound it out

j The buzzy consonant of "measure" and "beige", with no "d" in front of it.

ou Because a vowel follows, this collapses into a "w" glide rather than staying a full "oo". Careful speech can give it a light syllable of its own, but normally it is just "w".

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

Hear it in a sentence

Les enfants jouent au ballon.

The children are playing ball.

Listen: Les enfants jouent au ballon.

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"Les enfants jouent au ballon" opens with an obligatory liaison: "les enfants" is /le.z‿ɑ̃.fɑ̃/, and without that "z" the phrase falls apart. "Jouent" is /ʒu/ — the whole "-ent" plural ending is silent, so the verb is a single vowel after the "j". "Jouer à" is the construction for playing games and sports, contracting to "au" before a masculine noun.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers say "joo-ER" with three problems at once: a hard "j", two full syllables, and a pronounced final "r". Fix them in order — start from the "zh" of "measure", let the "ou" become a glide, and end on a bare "ay". The conjugated "jouent" is a separate shock: it looks like it should have two syllables and an "n", and it has neither.