French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "pouvoir" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce pouvoir in French?

pouvoir is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /pu.vwaʁ/. It means “can / to be able to.” poo-VWAHR — three vowel-ish sounds crammed into two syllables, with the "oi" as "wa" and a throat "r".

poo-VWAHR — three vowel-ish sounds crammed into two syllables, with the "oi" as "wa" and a throat "r".

pouvoir /pu.vwaʁ/

pou-VOIR, weight on the second syllable. The two syllables are both rounded, so the lips stay pushed forward for the whole word — a useful physical cue that you are shaping it correctly.

Listen: pouvoir

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Sound it out

pou An unaspirated "p" plus the back "oo" of "soup". No puff of air on the "p".

voi "v" plus "wa". The mouth moves from the rounded "oo" of the first syllable straight into another rounded glide, which is what makes this word feel slippery.

r A pronounced uvular "r", as in all -oir infinitives.

Hear it in a sentence

Tu peux répéter, s'il te plaît ?

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Listen: Tu peux répéter, s'il te plaît ?

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"Tu peux répéter, s'il te plaît ?" uses the conjugated form "peux", which looks nothing like the infinitive — that is normal for this verb. "Peux" is /pø/, one syllable with the rounded /ø/ vowel and a silent "x". The question is formed by intonation alone, rising on -TER, with no inversion and no "est-ce que".

Where English speakers slip

Learners commonly produce four syllables, "po-oo-vo-eer", because they read every vowel letter separately. It is two beats. The other issue is the two rounded vowels: "ou" is the back /u/ and the "oi" is a "wa" glide, and running them together without letting the lips relax in between takes practice. Say "poo" then "vwar" as two deliberate chunks before joining them.