French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "le ciel" in French?

luh SYEL — one syllable, with the "i" acting as a "y" glide rather than a separate beat.

le ciel /lə sjɛl/

The phrase peaks on CIEL, one syllable. The plural is irregular — "les cieux" — used mainly in poetic or religious contexts, while "les ciels" refers to skies in painting.

Listen: le ciel

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Sound it out

ci "c" before "i" is soft, so an "s", and the "i" becomes a "y" glide because a vowel follows.

e An open "eh" as in "bed".

l A light, forward "l", fully pronounced. Final "l" is one of the consonants French keeps.

Hear it in a sentence

Le ciel est gris aujourd'hui.

The sky is gray today.

Listen: Le ciel est gris aujourd'hui.

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"Le ciel est gris aujourd'hui" runs "ciel est" together across the vowels. "Gris" ends in a silent "s", so it is one syllable, /ɡʁi/, with a throat "r" after the hard "g". "Aujourd'hui" ends with the /ɥ/ glide. The whole sentence has three different throat or glide sounds to coordinate.

Where English speakers slip

It comes out as two syllables, "see-EL", for anyone reading that "i" as a vowel rather than a glide. They also make the "l" dark and back, as English does in "cell" — keep it bright with the tongue tip forward. And the soft "c" occasionally gets read as a hard "k" by people not yet used to the rule.