French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "seul" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce seul in French?

seul is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /sœl/. It means “alone / only (f. seule).” suhl with rounded lips — the open /œ/ vowel of "neuf", plus a light "l".

suhl with rounded lips — the open /œ/ vowel of "neuf", plus a light "l".

seul /sœl/

One syllable. The feminine "seule" sounds identical — the added "e" is silent and the "l" was already audible — so this is one of the rare adjectives where gender does not change the sound.

Listen: seul

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

Sound it out

s A voiceless "s" at the start.

eu The open rounded vowel /œ/, as in "neuf" and "heure". Lips rounded, tongue mid-front. It is more open than the /ø/ of "deux" because a consonant closes the syllable.

l A light, forward "l", fully pronounced.

Hear it in a sentence

Je voyage seul.

I'm traveling alone.

Listen: Je voyage seul.

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

"Je voyage seul" uses the adjective as a kind of adverb, describing the state of the subject. A woman would write "seule", pronounced the same. "Voyage" has a "y" doing double duty, giving vwa-YAZH, with the soft "g" of "measure" at the end. Note that "seul" before a noun means "only": "le seul jour" is the only day.

Where English speakers slip

The vowel gets unrounded into a plain "uh" or substituted with "oo", both of which lose the sound that makes it French. Round your lips while keeping the tongue mid and forward. The "l" also goes dark in English mouths — keep it bright, with the tongue tip on the ridge behind the upper teeth. And note the meaning shift with position: before the noun it means "only", after it, "alone".