French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "perdre" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce perdre in French?

perdre is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /pɛʁdʁ/. It means “to lose.” pehr-druh — one syllable plus a trailing cluster, with two throat "r"s and an open "eh".

pehr-druh — one syllable plus a trailing cluster, with two throat "r"s and an open "eh".

perdre /pɛʁdʁ/

One full syllable with a fading cluster after it: PER-dr. The trailing part has no vowel to carry a beat, so the weight sits at the front — the usual pattern for -re verbs of this shape.

Listen: perdre

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Sound it out

per An unaspirated "p", an open "eh" as in "bed", then a uvular "r". The vowel must stay clean — English would merge it into the "r" as in "pert".

dre A "d" into a second uvular "r", with the final "e" silent. Two throat sounds separated only by a "d".

Hear it in a sentence

J'ai perdu mon passeport.

I've lost my passport.

Listen: J'ai perdu mon passeport.

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"J'ai perdu mon passeport" is the passé composé with the past participle "perdu", which restores a vowel the infinitive does not have and ends in the tight French /y/: per-DÜ. "Passeport" has a doubled "ss" keeping the middle consonant hissing, and a silent final "t" — pass-POR.

Where English speakers slip

The word packs two uvular "r"s into six letters, and English speakers respond by curling their tongue twice, producing something like "purr-drr". Keep the tongue tip resting behind the lower teeth and let the back of the tongue do everything. Learners also inflate the ending into a full "-duh-ruh"; it should fade to almost nothing. And keep the first vowel open, not the "ur" of English "perch".