French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "la fois" in French?

lah FWAH — one syllable, with the "oi" as a "wa" glide and the "s" silent.

la fois /la fwa/

The phrase peaks on FOIS, one beat. The word counts occasions — "une fois", "deux fois", "la première fois" — and is not interchangeable with "le temps" or "l'heure", both of which also translate as "time".

Listen: la fois

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Sound it out

la The feminine article.

f A plain "f". Round your lips as you make it, since the "w" is coming immediately.

oi The "wa" glide, one quick movement.

s Silent. Singular and plural are spelled and pronounced identically, so "une fois" and "deux fois" differ only in the number word.

Hear it in a sentence

Je l'ai vu une fois.

I saw him once.

Listen: Je l'ai vu une fois.

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"Je l'ai vu une fois" elides the object pronoun "le" before the vowel of "ai", giving "l'ai" as one syllable. The passé composé here puts the pronoun before the auxiliary, which is where French requires it. "Vu" is the past participle with the tight /y/ vowel: vü.

Where English speakers slip

Read as two vowels with a sounded "s", it becomes "fo-EESS". It is one beat ending in open air. The bigger issue is the three-way "time" split: "fois" for occasions, "temps" for time in general, "heure" for clock time. Saying "trois temps" for "three times" is a very common and very visible error.