French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "possible" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce possible in French?

possible is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /pɔ.sibl/. It means “possible.” po-SEE-bluh — three beats at most, with the doubled "ss" hissing and the ending fading away.

po-SEE-bluh — three beats at most, with the doubled "ss" hissing and the ending fading away.

possible /pɔ.sibl/

pos-SI-ble, with the weight on the middle syllable, since the trailing "-ble" has no real vowel. English stresses the first syllable, so the beat has to move back one.

Listen: possible

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Sound it out

po An unaspirated "p" plus a short open "o" as in "cot".

ss A voiceless "s". The doubling blocks the voicing a single "s" between vowels would trigger.

i A tense, pure "ee". Not the lax "ih" of English "possible".

ble A "b" into a light "l", with the final "e" silent or barely breathed.

Hear it in a sentence

Ce n'est pas possible.

That's not possible.

Listen: Ce n'est pas possible.

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"Ce n'est pas possible" elides the negation before "est" and is one of the most useful stock phrases in the language — used for genuine impossibility and for exasperated disbelief alike. In speech the "ne" usually drops: "c'est pas possible", often compressed further to something like "speh possible".

Where English speakers slip

Its English twin is spelled the same and hollows out both unstressed vowels into schwas: "POSS-uh-bull". French keeps the vowels full: a clear "o", a clear "ee", and then a fading cluster. The stress moves to the middle. Learners also give the ending a full "-bull", when it should be a tight "bl" that trails off with barely a vowel behind it.