French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "le sport" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce le sport in French?

le sport is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /lə spɔʁ/. It means “sport.” luh SPOR — a short open "o", a throat "r", and a silent "t".

luh SPOR — a short open "o", a throat "r", and a silent "t".

le sport /lə spɔʁ/

The phrase peaks on SPORT, one syllable ending on the "r". The plural "sports" sounds identical, since both the "t" and the "s" are silent.

Listen: le sport

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Sound it out

sp An "s" plus an unaspirated "p". French never puffs air after "p" in this cluster, which makes it sound crisper than the English version.

or A short open "o" as in "cot", then a uvular "r". The vowel must keep its own shape rather than merging into the "r".

t Silent, despite the word being a borrowing. French has naturalised it far enough to drop the final consonant.

Hear it in a sentence

Je fais du sport trois fois par semaine.

I play sports three times a week.

Listen: Je fais du sport trois fois par semaine.

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"Je fais du sport trois fois par semaine" uses "faire du sport" — the fixed expression for exercising, with the partitive. "Trois fois" makes no liaison because "fois" begins with a consonant, so the "s" of "trois" stays silent. "Par semaine" is the standard way to express a rate.

Where English speakers slip

The final "t" gets pronounced, because the word looks English and English says it. French drops it. The "r" also gets an American curl that swallows the vowel — keep the "o" short and open, then rasp at the back. And the collocation matters: French says "faire du sport", never "jouer du sport".