LingoDrop
French · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "la rue" in French?
lah RÜ — a throat "r" straight into the tight French "u". Two of the hardest French sounds in one syllable.
The phrase peaks on RUE, one syllable. It is short but demanding — an initial uvular "r" and the /y/ vowel are the two sounds English speakers find hardest, and here they sit back to back.
Listen: la rue
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Hear it in a sentence
Traverse la rue ici.
Cross the street here.
Listen: Traverse la rue ici.
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"Traverse la rue ici" is a "tu" imperative, dropping the "-s" the present tense would have. "Traverse" ends in a silent "e" that keeps the "s" audible: tra-VERS. The command runs straight into "la rue ici" with no pause, and "ici" takes the final beat.
Where English speakers slip
Learners produce "roo", substituting the back /u/ vowel, which turns the word toward "roue" (wheel). The vowel must be front and lip-rounded. The initial "r" is the other half of the problem: an American "r" here reshapes the whole syllable. Practise them separately — hold a long /y/ first, then add the throat rasp in front.