French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "la fin" in French?

lah FAN — one nasal beat, with no "n" consonant at all.

la fin /la fɛ̃/

The phrase peaks on FIN, one nasal syllable that fades. The related adjective "fin" (fine, thin) is spelled and pronounced identically, and its feminine "fine" turns the nasal into a real "n".

Listen: la fin

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Sound it out

la The feminine article.

f A plain "f".

in The nasal vowel /ɛ̃/: an open "eh" routed through the nose, tongue never rising. The same sound as in "vin", "main" and "pain".

Hear it in a sentence

C'est la fin de l'histoire.

That's the end of the story.

Listen: C'est la fin de l'histoire.

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"C'est la fin de l'histoire" shows two elisions in one short sentence: "c'est" from "ce est", and "l'histoire" from "la histoire" across the mute "h". "De l'histoire" is the standard possessive construction. The whole thing runs together as seh-la-fan-duh-lees-TWAR.

Where English speakers slip

The English word "fin" is spelled identically and supplies a real "n" with a lax vowel. French has one nasal vowel and nothing touching. Learners also confuse this nasal /ɛ̃/ with the /ɑ̃/ of "fend" or "vent" — the first is made in a front, "eh" position, the second with the mouth fully open. Drilling "fin" against "faon" sharpens the contrast.