French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "la grand-mère" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce la grand-mère in French?

la grand-mère is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /la ɡʁɑ̃.mɛʁ/. It means “grandmother.” lah grahn-MEHR — a nasal in the middle, no liaison across the hyphen, and two throat "r"s.

lah grahn-MEHR — a nasal in the middle, no liaison across the hyphen, and two throat "r"s.

la grand-mère /la ɡʁɑ̃.mɛʁ/

la grand-MÈRE, weight on the last syllable. Note that "grand" does not take a feminine "e" in this compound — it is a frozen form from Old French, where the adjective had one shape for both genders.

Listen: la grand-mère

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Sound it out

gr A hard "g" straight into a uvular "r", both made at the back of the mouth.

and The nasal vowel /ɑ̃/ with both the "n" and the "d" silent. No liaison happens across the hyphen here, so the "d" stays quiet.

mère An "m", an open "eh" from the grave accent, and a final uvular "r" kept audible by the silent "e".

Hear it in a sentence

Ma grand-mère habite à la campagne.

My grandmother lives in the countryside.

Listen: Ma grand-mère habite à la campagne.

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"Ma grand-mère habite à la campagne" runs "habite" straight into "à" across the mute "h". "Campagne" has the "gn" spelling, pronounced like the "ny" of "canyon": kahm-PAN-yuh, and it opens with a nasal vowel. "À la campagne" means "in the countryside" as a general location.

Where English speakers slip

The hyphen tempts learners into making a liaison, producing "grahn-t-MEHR". There is no link here. They also pronounce the "d" or nasalize incompletely. And English speakers naturally stress the first element, as in "GRANDmother"; French puts the weight on "-mère". Two throat "r"s in one phrase makes it good practice.