French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "penser" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce penser in French?

penser is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /pɑ̃.se/. It means “to think.” pahn-SAY — a nasal first syllable, a hissing "s", and a bare "ay" at the end.

pahn-SAY — a nasal first syllable, a hissing "s", and a bare "ay" at the end.

penser /pɑ̃.se/

pen-SER, weight on the second syllable. The nasal opening and the clean "ay" ending give the word a distinctly two-part shape, with nothing in the middle to slow it down.

Listen: penser

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Sound it out

pen An unaspirated "p" plus the nasal vowel /ɑ̃/. The spelling has an "e" but the sound is an open "ah" through the nose — the same vowel as in "dans" and "blanc".

s A voiceless "s", because it follows a consonant sound rather than sitting between two vowels.

er The -er infinitive ending: a closed "ay", "r" silent.

Hear it in a sentence

Je pense souvent à toi.

I often think about you.

Listen: Je pense souvent à toi.

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"Je pense souvent à toi" uses "penser à" — the preposition French requires for thinking about someone. Get it wrong ("penser de") and you change the meaning to having an opinion about them. "Souvent" ends in a nasal vowel with a silent "t", and "toi" is the stressed pronoun that any preposition demands.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers say "pen" as in the writing implement, with a real "n" and a front vowel. The French vowel is back and open, and nothing in the mouth closes. The other reliable error is the ending: "pen-SAIR" instead of "pen-SAY". And watch the "s" — some learners voice it into a "z" by analogy with other words, but here it stays a clean hiss.