LingoDrop
French · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "malade" in French?
ma-LAD — two even syllables with an audible "d" at the end, kept alive by the silent "e".
ma-LADE, weight on the second syllable. The word is the same in both genders, so a man and a woman are both "malade" — the silent "e" is already there.
Listen: malade
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
Je suis malade depuis hier.
I've been sick since yesterday.
Listen: Je suis malade depuis hier.
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"Je suis malade depuis hier" uses "depuis" for an ongoing state, and French keeps the present tense where English switches to "have been": literally "I am sick since yesterday". "Depuis" has the /ɥ/ glide, /də.pɥi/, and "hier" begins with a silent "h": /jɛʁ/, one syllable with a "y" glide.
Where English speakers slip
English speakers give the word an English rhythm, stressing the first syllable and reducing the second — "MA-luhd". French keeps both "a" vowels full and open and puts the weight at the end. The final "d" is also often dropped by learners applying the silent-consonant rule too broadly; the trailing "e" is exactly what keeps it sounded.