French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "le miroir" in French?

luh mee-RWAHR — two throat "r"s with a "wa" glide between them.

le miroir /lə mi.ʁwaʁ/

le mi-ROIR, weight on the second syllable. Two "r"s in one short noun, both made at the back of the throat with the tongue tip resting behind the lower teeth.

Listen: le miroir

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Sound it out

mi An "m" plus a tense, pure "ee". Not the lax "ih" of English "mirror".

roi A uvular "r" plus the "wa" glide, one movement. The "r" comes first, then the glide — a demanding sequence for an English mouth.

r A second uvular "r", closing the word, fully pronounced.

Hear it in a sentence

Il y a un miroir dans la chambre.

There's a mirror in the bedroom.

Listen: Il y a un miroir dans la chambre.

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"Il y a un miroir dans la chambre" compresses "il y a" to /i.lja/ and links "un miroir" smoothly across the nasal. "Chambre" has a nasal vowel and the same fading cluster shape as "montre": SHAHN-br. Neither "dans" nor "la" triggers a liaison here, since "la" begins with a consonant.

Where English speakers slip

English "mirror" gives front stress, a lax vowel, and two American "r"s, which between them reshape every part of the word. French wants a clean "ee", the weight at the end, and two throat rasps. Learners also split "oi" into two vowels, producing "mee-ro-EER" in three syllables when it is two.