French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "la mère" in French?

lah MEHR — an open "eh" marked by the grave accent, then a throat "r".

la mère /la mɛʁ/

The phrase peaks on MÈRE, one syllable. Worth learning alongside "mer" (sea) and "maire" (mayor), which are pronounced identically — French has a lot of these three-way homophones.

Listen: la mère

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Sound it out

la The feminine article.

mè An "m" plus an open "eh" as in "bed". The grave accent tells you the vowel is open rather than the closed "ay" of "é".

re A final uvular "r" kept audible by the silent "e".

Hear it in a sentence

Ma mère m'appelle tous les jours.

My mother calls me every day.

Listen: Ma mère m'appelle tous les jours.

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"Ma mère m'appelle tous les jours" elides the object pronoun: "me" becomes "m'" before "appelle", fusing into /ma.pɛl/. "Tous les jours" means "every day", and here "tous" is an adjective so its "s" is silent. The doubled "ll" in "appelle" keeps the vowel open: a-PEL.

Where English speakers slip

The vowel gets closed toward "may" or absorbed by an American "r", producing "mair". Keep it flat and open, then rasp separately at the back of the throat. Learners also miss the elision of "me" before a vowel, saying "me appelle". And note the possessive is "ma" here but would be "mon" before a vowel-initial feminine noun — as in "mon amie".