LingoDrop
French · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "le magasin" in French?
luh ma-ga-ZAN — the single "s" between vowels is a "z", and the ending is nasal.
le ma-ga-SIN, weight on the final syllable. Three beats, all with full vowels — none of them reduces to a schwa the way English would weaken them.
Listen: le magasin
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Hear it in a sentence
Le magasin ferme à sept heures.
The store closes at seven.
Listen: Le magasin ferme à sept heures.
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"Le magasin ferme à sept heures" has an obligatory liaison in the time phrase: "sept heures" keeps the "t" of "sept" (which is always pronounced) and links it into "heures", giving set-UR. "Ferme" ends in a silent "e" that keeps the "m" audible. The 12-hour reading here means 7 p.m. in context.
Where English speakers slip
The "s" stays a hiss for most learners, giving "ma-ga-SAN", when a lone "s" between vowels is always voiced to "z". The ending also gets a real "n". And English speakers who know the word "magazine" import its stress and its final vowel — the French word means a shop, and the periodical is "un magazine", spelled with a "z".