LingoDrop
French · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "la famille" in French?
la fa-MEE-y — the "-ille" makes a "y" sound, exactly as in "fille".
la fa-MILLE, weight on the final syllable, which ends in a glide rather than a consonant. Three beats, all with full vowels.
Listen: la famille
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Hear it in a sentence
Ma famille habite en Bretagne.
My family lives in Brittany.
Listen: Ma famille habite en Bretagne.
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"Ma famille habite en Bretagne" links the verb into the region name smoothly, and "habite" begins with a mute "h" so "famille habite" runs together. "En Bretagne" uses "en" because French regions ending in "-e" are feminine. "Bretagne" has the "gn" spelling, pronounced like the "ny" in "canyon": bruh-TAN-yuh.
Where English speakers slip
The "ll" gets a real "l", giving "fa-MEEL", which is the English "family" leaking through. It ends in a "y" sound. English also reduces the middle vowel to a schwa and stresses the first syllable — French keeps all three vowels full and puts the beat at the end. Say it as fa-mee-Y, three even steps up.