French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "le bus" in French?

luh BÜSS — the tight French "u", and unusually, the final "s" IS pronounced.

le bus /lə bys/

The phrase peaks on BUS, one syllable closed by a crisp "s". Singular and plural are identical, so the article carries the number.

Listen: le bus

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Sound it out

le A light "l" plus a weak schwa.

b A normal "b".

u The vowel /y/: tongue in the "ee" position, lips rounded. Not the "uh" of English "bus" and not "oo".

s Pronounced. This is a borrowed word, and borrowings often keep consonants that native French words would drop.

Hear it in a sentence

J'attends le bus.

I'm waiting for the bus.

Listen: J'attends le bus.

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"J'attends le bus" uses "attendre" with no preposition — French says "I wait the bus", because the "for" is built into the verb. Adding "pour" is the classic English-speaker error. "J'attends" elides "je" and ends with silent "d" and "s", so the verb is /ʒa.tɑ̃/, ending on a nasal.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers say "buss" with the wrong vowel, and learners who have absorbed the silent-final-consonant rule sometimes drop the "s" instead. Both halves need attention: the front rounded /y/, and a fully pronounced "s". The word is also easy to confuse with "bu" (drunk, past participle of boire), which has no "s" at all.