LingoDrop
French · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "la brosse à dents" in French?
la bross a DAHN — four beats, with the final "dents" a single nasal and both its consonants silent.
The phrase peaks on DENTS at the end, with everything before running quickly into it. French builds compound nouns with "à" when the second element states a purpose — brosse à dents, machine à laver, cuillère à café.
Listen: la brosse à dents
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
Où est ma brosse à dents ?
Where's my toothbrush?
Listen: Où est ma brosse à dents ?
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"Où est ma brosse à dents ?" opens with "où est", which runs together as /u.ɛ/ with no liaison to make. The possessive "ma" agrees with the feminine "brosse", not with "dents". The rising intonation lands on DENTS at the end, which is also the phrase's stressed beat.
Where English speakers slip
Learners pronounce the "ts" of "dents", producing "dahnts", and give the nasal a real "n". The word ends in a hum with nothing after it. The compound structure is the other point: it is "brosse à dents", never "brosse de dents" — French uses "à" for purpose and "de" for material or origin.