LingoDrop
French · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "le savon" in French?
luh sa-VOHN — an open "ah" then a nasal vowel, with no "n" consonant.
le sa-VON, weight on the second syllable. The word is the root of "savonnette" and of the English "saponify", where the consonant comes back.
Listen: le savon
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Hear it in a sentence
Il n'y a plus de savon.
There's no soap left.
Listen: Il n'y a plus de savon.
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"Il n'y a plus de savon" uses "ne... plus" for "no longer", and here "plus" is pronounced without its "s" — /ply/ — because it is the negative sense. The "ne" elides to "n'", and "il n'y a" compresses to something like "eel-nya". "De savon" follows the negative-article rule: "de" replaces any indefinite article.
Where English speakers slip
The nasal gets a real "n", producing "sa-VONN". It is a vowel that hums and stops. Learners also stress the first syllable. And the negation detail is worth internalising: in "ne... plus" the "s" of "plus" is always silent, which is what tells a listener you mean "no more" rather than "more".