French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "sept" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce sept in French?

sept is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /sɛt/. It means “seven.” set, exactly like the English word "set". The "p" is completely silent.

set, exactly like the English word "set". The "p" is completely silent.

sept /sɛt/

One syllable, closed by that audible "t". Unlike most French words, "sept" keeps its final consonant in every position, so it sounds the same before consonants, vowels, and pauses alike.

Listen: sept

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

Sound it out

s A plain "s".

e An open "eh" as in "bed". Short and flat, with no glide.

pt Only the "t" is pronounced. The "p" is a silent fossil kept from Latin "septem", preserved on the page because of the related words that still show it — "septembre", "septième".

Hear it in a sentence

Il y a sept jours dans une semaine.

There are seven days in a week.

Listen: Il y a sept jours dans une semaine.

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

"Il y a sept jours dans une semaine" opens with "il y a", the fixed expression for "there is/are", which runs together as /i.lja/ — three written words, two spoken syllables. Then "sept jours" keeps its "t" but does not link, since "jours" begins with a consonant. "Dans une" does link: /dɑ̃.z‿yn/, with the silent "s" of "dans" surfacing.

Where English speakers slip

Seeing "sept", English speakers reach for "September" and pronounce the "p", giving "sept" as in the abbreviation for the month. There is no "p" sound. The related trap is the vowel: some learners lengthen it toward "say", but /ɛ/ is short and open — think "set", "bet", "net". This is one of the easiest French numbers to say correctly once you delete that letter from your mental image of the word.