LingoDrop
French · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "le bureau" in French?
luh bü-ROH — the tight French "u" first, then a throat "r" and a pure "oh".
le bu-REAU, weight on the second syllable. The plural is "bureaux" with an "x", which is silent — so singular and plural sound identical and the article carries the number.
Listen: le bureau
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
Je travaille au bureau.
I work at the office.
Listen: Je travaille au bureau.
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"Je travaille au bureau" uses "au", contracting "à le", to mean "at the office". The word covers both the office and the desk within it, so context decides. "Travaille" has the "y" sound from "-aill-": tra-VYE. There is no liaison anywhere in this short sentence.
Where English speakers slip
English has borrowed "bureau" with a "byoo" at the front and the stress on the first syllable. French wants the pure front-rounded /y/ — no "y" glide before it — and the weight at the end. The "eau" also picks up an English glide; it is one steady "oh". Say "bü" then "ROH", both short and clean.