French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "le pantalon" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce le pantalon in French?

le pantalon is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /lə pɑ̃.ta.lɔ̃/. It means “pants.” luh pahn-ta-LOHN — two different nasal vowels bracketing an oral one.

luh pahn-ta-LOHN — two different nasal vowels bracketing an oral one.

le pantalon /lə pɑ̃.ta.lɔ̃/

le pan-ta-LON, weight on the final syllable. The noun is singular in French where English "pants" or "trousers" is plural — so it takes a singular verb and a singular article.

Listen: le pantalon

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Sound it out

pan An unaspirated "p" plus the nasal vowel /ɑ̃/, open and through the nose.

ta An unaspirated "t" plus a short open "ah" — the one oral vowel in the word.

lon A light "l" plus the other nasal, /ɔ̃/, with rounded lips. Two different nasals in one word makes it a good contrast drill.

Hear it in a sentence

Ce pantalon est trop long.

These pants are too long.

Listen: Ce pantalon est trop long.

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"Ce pantalon est trop long" ends on "long", another nasal — so the sentence has three nasal vowels in six words. "Long" is /lɔ̃/ with a silent "g", matching the nasal of "-lon" exactly. "Trop" ends in a silent "p". Note the singular agreement throughout.

Where English speakers slip

Both nasals get real consonants, producing "pan-ta-LON" as an English reader would say it. Nothing should touch at either point. The number is the grammatical trap: French speakers say "un pantalon" for one pair, so "des pantalons" means several garments, not one. And English "pantaloon" pulls the stress and the final vowel out of shape.