French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "l'aéroport (m.)" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce l'aéroport (m.) in French?

l'aéroport (m.) is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /la.e.ʁɔ.pɔʁ/. It means “airport.” la-ay-ro-POR — four beats, with the "aé" genuinely two separate vowels and a silent final "t".

la-ay-ro-POR — four beats, with the "aé" genuinely two separate vowels and a silent final "t".

l'aéroport (m.) /la.e.ʁɔ.pɔʁ/

l'a-é-ro-PORT, weight on the final syllable. Four beats, which is long for French — and every vowel stays full, with none reducing to a schwa.

Listen: l'aéroport (m.)

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

Sound it out

l'a The article elided before the vowel, then a short open "ah".

é A closed "ay" from the accent aigu, and its own separate syllable — the accent is there partly to stop you merging it with the "a" before it.

ro A uvular "r" plus a short open "o".

port An unaspirated "p", a short open "o", a second uvular "r", and a silent "t".

Hear it in a sentence

On arrive à l'aéroport à midi.

We arrive at the airport at noon.

Listen: On arrive à l'aéroport à midi.

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

"On arrive à l'aéroport à midi" carries an obligatory liaison at the start: "on arrive" is /ɔ̃.n‿a.ʁiv/, with the nasal releasing into a real "n". Then two "à" prepositions bracket the noun. "Arrive" ends in a silent "e" that keeps the "v" audible.

Where English speakers slip

The "aé" sequence gets collapsed into one vowel, producing "AIR-o-port" as in English. French keeps them separate: "a" then "ay". The final "t" also gets pronounced, and both "r"s get an American curl. Say it as four deliberate steps, with the weight landing on the last.