French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "pour" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce pour in French?

pour is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /puʁ/. It means “for.” poor — but with the throat "r" and unaspirated "p". One syllable, vowel like "soup".

poor — but with the throat "r" and unaspirated "p". One syllable, vowel like "soup".

pour /puʁ/

One syllable, and an unstressed one in most sentences, since prepositions lean forward onto their object: pour TOI, pour DEMAIN.

Listen: pour

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

Sound it out

p No puff of air. English "p" at the start of a word comes with an audible breath; French does not. Hold a hand in front of your mouth and you should feel nothing.

ou A tight "oo" as in "soup", lips pushed forward and the vowel held perfectly steady.

r The uvular "r", made at the back of the throat. It should not bend the "oo" before it — English "poor" merges the vowel and the "r" into one blur, and French keeps them separate.

Hear it in a sentence

Ce cadeau est pour toi.

This present is for you.

Listen: Ce cadeau est pour toi.

Free browser voice. Hear it read by a real native speaker inside the LingoDrop app.

"Ce cadeau est pour toi" ends with the stressed pronoun "toi" rather than "tu", which is what French requires after a preposition — you can never say "pour tu". "Cadeau" ends in that pure "oh" written "eau", and "est" between the two is a bare /ɛ/, so the sentence flows as suh-ka-DOH-eh-poor-TWA.

Where English speakers slip

The English word "poor" is the obvious model, and it is close in vowel but wrong in "r": the American version curls the tongue back and swallows the vowel into an "r"-coloured blur. French keeps a clean, forward "oo" and then makes the "r" separately in the throat. Also watch the "p" — aspirating it gives a breathy "phoor" that immediately marks the accent.