French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "sûr" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce sûr in French?

sûr is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /syʁ/. It means “sure / certain.” sür — a hissing "s", the tight French "u", and a throat "r". Not "sure" and not "soor".

sür — a hissing "s", the tight French "u", and a throat "r". Not "sure" and not "soor".

sûr /syʁ/

One syllable. The feminine "sûre" sounds the same; only the spelling changes. The circumflex is doing purely visual work here.

Listen: sûr

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Sound it out

s A voiceless "s" at the start of the word.

û The vowel /y/: tongue in the "ee" position, lips rounded into a whistle. The circumflex here marks a lost letter and distinguishes this word in writing from "sur" (on), but the two are pronounced identically.

r A final uvular "r", fully pronounced. It must not bend the /y/ vowel — keep the lips rounded through the whole syllable.

Hear it in a sentence

Tu es sûr ?

Are you sure?

Listen: Tu es sûr ?

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"Tu es sûr ?" is a question made by intonation alone, rising sharply on the last word. "Tu es" often contracts to "t'es" in speech, so the whole thing can come out as two syllables: teh-SÜR. To a woman you would write "sûre", with no change in sound. The fuller version is "tu es sûr de toi ?"

Where English speakers slip

The English word "sure" is a total mismatch — it starts with "sh" and has a completely different vowel. French wants a clean "s" and the tight /y/. Learners who avoid "shoor" usually land on "soor", substituting the back /u/ vowel, which drags the word toward "sourd" (deaf) rather than anything meaning certain. Round your lips while keeping the tongue high and forward, exactly where it sits for "ee".