LingoDrop
French · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "le restaurant" in French?
luh res-toh-RAHN — two throat "r"s and a nasal ending with a silent "t".
le res-tau-RANT, weight on the final syllable. English stresses the first — RES-taurant — and often swallows the middle syllable entirely, so the French version needs all three beats restored.
Listen: le restaurant
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
On dîne au restaurant ce soir.
We're eating out at a restaurant tonight.
Listen: On dîne au restaurant ce soir.
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"On dîne au restaurant ce soir" uses "au", the contraction of "à le", and "dîner" as a verb rather than a noun. The circumflex on "dîne" marks a lost "s". "Ce soir" means tonight specifically, as opposed to "le soir" which would mean evenings in general.
Where English speakers slip
Identical spelling in English makes this one of the harder words to get right: English stresses the front, reduces the middle, gives a real "n", and releases the "t". French does the opposite on every count. Say it as three even beats climbing to a nasal that fades — and put both "r"s at the back of the throat.