French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "le problème" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce le problème in French?

le problème is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /lə pʁɔ.blɛm/. It means “problem.” luh pro-BLEM — a throat "r" early, an open "eh" marked by the grave accent, and a real "m" at the end.

luh pro-BLEM — a throat "r" early, an open "eh" marked by the grave accent, and a real "m" at the end.

le problème /lə pʁɔ.blɛm/

le pro-BLÈME, weight on the final syllable. English stresses the first — PROB-lem — and reduces the rest, so the French version needs all three vowels restored and the beat moved.

Listen: le problème

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Sound it out

pr An unaspirated "p" into a uvular "r", with the tongue tip staying down.

o A short open "o" as in "cot", unstressed.

blè A "b" into a light "l", then an open "eh" marked by the grave accent.

me A real "m" consonant, kept audible by the silent final "e". The vowel before it is not nasal.

Hear it in a sentence

Il y a un problème avec ma réservation.

There's a problem with my reservation.

Listen: Il y a un problème avec ma réservation.

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"Il y a un problème avec ma réservation" compresses "il y a" to /i.lja/ and links "un problème" smoothly. "Avec" keeps its final "c" as a hard "k". "Réservation" ends in the usual "-syon" and has a single "s" between vowels pronounced "z": ray-zer-va-SYOHN.

Where English speakers slip

The English word is nearly identical on paper and pulls hard: front stress, a reduced second syllable, and an American "r". French keeps all three vowels full, puts the weight at the end, and rasps the "r" at the back. The final "m" also gets nasalized by learners over-applying the nasal rule — the silent "e" keeps it a real consonant.