French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "où" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce où in French?

où is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /u/. It means “where.” oo — a single vowel, exactly like the French word "ou" (or). The accent is a spelling device only.

oo — a single vowel, exactly like the French word "ou" (or). The accent is a spelling device only.

où /u/

One syllable. As a question word it usually opens the sentence and carries a slightly raised pitch, with the real peak arriving at the end of the question.

Listen: où

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Sound it out

ou The back "oo" of "soup": lips pushed forward, tongue pulled back, and the vowel held perfectly steady with no drift toward a "w" at the end.

` The grave accent adds no sound whatsoever. Its only job is to separate this question word from "ou" (or) in writing, which is why the two are exact homophones.

Hear it in a sentence

Où sont les toilettes ?

Where's the restroom?

Listen: Où sont les toilettes ?

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"Où sont les toilettes ?" puts the verb before the subject, which is standard in questions of this shape. "Sont" ends in a silent "t", so there is no liaison with "les". "Toilettes" is plural in French — the room is always "les toilettes", never the singular — and the doubled "tt" keeps the vowel before it open.

Where English speakers slip

The accent makes learners expect the vowel to be special; it is a plain "oo". The more common issue is confusing "où" with "ou" in listening, since they are homophones — French relies entirely on context and word order. Also note that "où" can mean "when" in relative clauses: "le jour où je suis arrivé" means the day when I arrived.