French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "pourquoi" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce pourquoi in French?

pourquoi is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /puʁ.kwa/. It means “why.” poor-KWA — and here the "qu" really does have a "w", because the "oi" supplies it.

poor-KWA — and here the "qu" really does have a "w", because the "oi" supplies it.

pourquoi /puʁ.kwa/

pour-QUOI, weight on the second syllable. The word is transparently "pour" plus "quoi" — literally "for what" — and both halves keep their own shape.

Listen: pourquoi

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Sound it out

pour An unaspirated "p", the back "oo" of "soup", then a uvular "r". This is the preposition "pour" sitting inside the question word.

qu A bare "k", as always in French.

oi The "wa" glide. So the "w" sound you hear is coming from the "oi", not from the "qu" — a useful thing to notice, because it explains why "quoi" has a "w" and "que" does not.

Hear it in a sentence

Pourquoi tu es en retard ?

Why are you late?

Listen: Pourquoi tu es en retard ?

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"Pourquoi tu es en retard ?" is the conversational word order, with no inversion; the textbook version would be "pourquoi es-tu en retard ?". "Tu es" often contracts to "t'es" in speech. "En retard" is a nasal vowel plus a word ending in a silent "d", and it is the required phrase for being late — "tu es tard" would not work.

Where English speakers slip

The first syllable gets an American "r" that swallows the "oo", and the second sometimes loses its glide, giving "poor-KAY". Keep the "oo" clean, rasp the "r" at the back, and let the "oi" supply a full "wa". Note also that the answer to "pourquoi" is "parce que", and mixing the two up is a common beginner slip.