French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "lundi" in French?

luhn-DEE — a nasal first syllable with rounded lips, and no "n" consonant anywhere.

lundi /lœ̃.di/

lun-DI, weight on the second syllable. The word is built from "lune" (moon) plus "di" (day) — Monday is moon-day in French too — and every weekday except Sunday shares that "-di" ending.

Listen: lundi

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Sound it out

lun A light "l" plus the nasal vowel /œ̃/ — rounded lips, air through the nose, tongue never rising. Many speakers now merge this with /ɛ̃/, which is perfectly standard.

di A dental "d" plus a tense, pure "ee".

Hear it in a sentence

Je commence lundi.

I start on Monday.

Listen: Je commence lundi.

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"Je commence lundi" needs no preposition at all: French says "I start Monday", never "le lundi" unless you mean every Monday, and never "à lundi" for a single occasion. That bare noun is the giveaway that this is one specific coming Monday. "Commence" has a soft "c" and a nasal middle: ko-MAHNS.

Where English speakers slip

The "n" gets pronounced, giving "LUN-dee" with the stress at the front, under the influence of English "Monday". Nasalize with rounded lips and move the weight to the end. Note also that days of the week take no capital letter in French, and that adding "le" changes the meaning from "this Monday" to "every Monday" — a small word with a big effect.