French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "prochain" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce prochain in French?

prochain is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /pʁɔ.ʃɛ̃/. It means “next.” pro-SHAN — the "ch" is "sh", and "-ain" is a nasal vowel, not "ayn".

pro-SHAN — the "ch" is "sh", and "-ain" is a nasal vowel, not "ayn".

prochain /pʁɔ.ʃɛ̃/

pro-CHAIN, weight on the second syllable, which is also the nasal one, so the word ends on an open hum. The feminine "prochaine" changes that ending completely: /pʁɔ.ʃɛn/, with a real "n" and no nasalization.

Listen: prochain

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

Sound it out

pro An unaspirated "p" into a uvular "r", then a short open "o".

ch "sh", as French "ch" always is in native words.

ain The nasal vowel /ɛ̃/ — an open "eh" sent through the nose, with the tongue never rising to make the "n". The same sound as in "pain", "main" and "demain".

Hear it in a sentence

Je descends au prochain arrêt.

I'm getting off at the next stop.

Listen: Je descends au prochain arrêt.

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

"Je descends au prochain arrêt" puts "prochain" before the noun, and the pairing creates a liaison: "prochain arrêt" is /pʁɔ.ʃɛ.n‿a.ʁɛ/, with the nasal releasing into a real "n" before the vowel. "Descends" is /de.sɑ̃/ with silent "d" and "s", and "au" is the contraction of "à le".

Where English speakers slip

The "-ain" ending gets read as English "ain" in "main" or "rain", giving "pro-SHAYN". It is a nasal vowel: an open "eh" through the nose with nothing touching. The "ch" also gets the English treatment. And the masculine/feminine pair is worth learning together, since "prochaine" turns that nasal into an ordinary vowel plus a real "n" — a bigger change than the spelling suggests.