French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "les gens" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce les gens in French?

les gens is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /le ʒɑ̃/. It means “people.” lay ZHAHN — a soft "j", a nasal vowel, and both the "s" of "les" and the "s" of "gens" silent.

lay ZHAHN — a soft "j", a nasal vowel, and both the "s" of "les" and the "s" of "gens" silent.

les gens /le ʒɑ̃/

The phrase peaks on GENS. The noun is plural-only, which is why it always appears with "les" or "des" — and it is masculine, though an adjective placed before it goes feminine, a famous grammatical oddity.

Listen: les gens

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Sound it out

les A light "l" plus a closed "ay", with the "s" silent here because "gens" begins with a consonant.

g "g" before "e" is soft: the buzz of "measure", with no "d" in front.

en The nasal vowel /ɑ̃/, open and through the nose.

s Silent. The word only exists in the plural — there is no singular "un gent".

Hear it in a sentence

Les gens sont gentils ici.

People are kind here.

Listen: Les gens sont gentils ici.

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"Les gens sont gentils ici" makes no liaison after "les" (because "gens" starts with a consonant) and none after "sont" (same reason). The plural markers are entirely in "les" and "sont" — "gentils" has a silent "s" and a silent "l", so it sounds exactly like the singular "gentil".

Where English speakers slip

The "g" comes out hard, as in English "gents", and the nasal gets a real "n". Both need fixing: soft buzz, then a vowel with nothing touching. Learners also try to use a singular form; there isn't one — for one person you need "une personne". And the word is not interchangeable with "personnes": "trois gens" is wrong, it must be "trois personnes".