French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "salut" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce salut in French?

salut is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /sa.ly/. It means “hi / bye (informal).” sah-LU — and that final "t" is completely silent. The tricky part is the "u", which is not "oo".

sah-LU — and that final "t" is completely silent. The tricky part is the "u", which is not "oo".

salut /sa.ly/

Two syllables, sa-LUT, with the slight lift on the second one. French does not put a heavy hammer-blow on any syllable the way English does; both beats get nearly equal length, with just a touch of extra weight at the end of the word.

Listen: salut

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Sound it out

sa A crisp "s" (never a "z") plus a bright, open "ah". Think the "a" in "father", cut short.

lu The French "u" sound, written /y/ in IPA. Say the English word "ee", freeze your tongue exactly where it is, then push your lips forward into a tight whistle shape. The tongue stays forward; only the lips move.

t Silent. It sits on the page as a spelling relic and never gets voiced, even at the end of a sentence.

Hear it in a sentence

Salut, ça va ?

Hi, how's it going?

Listen: Salut, ça va ?

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In "Salut, ça va ?" the greeting runs straight into the question with barely a pause — French speakers often say the whole thing as one four-beat phrase, sa-lu-sa-VA. Note the space before the question mark: that is standard French typography, not a typo. "ça va" itself ends on a rising pitch, which is what turns the statement "it goes" into the question "how's it going?"

Where English speakers slip

Almost every English speaker says "sah-LOO", borrowing the vowel from "salute" or from the cocktail toast "salut!" they have heard in films. That /u/ vowel is a different word-sound in French entirely — it is the vowel in "vous" and "sous". You need the lips-rounded, tongue-forward /y/ instead. The other half of the problem is the "t": English spelling instincts want to release it, giving "sah-LOOT", which sounds distinctly foreign. Drop it entirely.