LingoDrop
French · Pronunciation Guide
How do you pronounce "peu" in French?
puh with rounded lips — the same vowel as "deux". One syllable, no consonant at the end.
One syllable, usually unstressed inside a phrase. The common chunk "un peu" runs together as two quick beats leading into whatever it modifies: un peu FATIGUÉ.
Listen: peu
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Sound it out
Hear it in a sentence
Je parle un peu français.
I speak a little French.
Listen: Je parle un peu français.
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"Je parle un peu français" uses "un peu" as a quantity before the language name, and note the missing article — "parler français" takes no "le", unlike "apprendre le français". Small inconsistencies like this are worth noticing. "Un peu" links smoothly, with the nasal of "un" flowing into the rounded "peu".
Where English speakers slip
The commonest error is an unrounded "puh", which loses the vowel that makes the word French, or an over-corrected "poo", which reaches for the wrong rounded vowel entirely. /ø/ has the tongue forward, where it sits for "ay", with the lips pushed into a circle. Also be careful not to confuse "peu" (little) with "peut" (can) — identical in sound, distinguished only by context.