LingoDrop
French · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "la plage" in French?
lah PLAHZH — an open "ah" and the soft "zh" of "measure" at the end.
The phrase peaks on PLAGE, one syllable ending in a buzz rather than a stop. Two words, two beats.
Listen: la plage
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Hear it in a sentence
On passe l'après-midi à la plage.
We're spending the afternoon at the beach.
Listen: On passe l'après-midi à la plage.
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"On passe l'après-midi à la plage" uses "passer" in its "spend time" sense, with elision in "l'après-midi". That compound is masculine and hyphenated, and "après" ends in an open "eh" with a silent "s". "À la plage" is the fixed phrase for being at the beach.
Where English speakers slip
The final "-ge" gets a hard English "j", producing "plaje". French wants the soft buzz with no stop in front. The vowel also gets flattened toward the English "a" of "cat" — keep it open and back. And note the gender: "la plage" is feminine, while "l'après-midi" in the same sentence is masculine, so the two articles behave differently.