French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "une" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce une in French?

une is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /yn/. It means “a / an / one (f.).” ün — the tight French "u" followed by a real "n". One syllable, and completely different from masculine "un".

ün — the tight French "u" followed by a real "n". One syllable, and completely different from masculine "un".

une /yn/

One unstressed syllable leading into the noun. It never carries the beat, but it does keep a full clear vowel — unlike "le", it does not reduce to a schwa.

Listen: une

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Sound it out

u The vowel /y/: say "ee", hold the tongue exactly there, and round your lips into a whistle shape. Nothing like "oo".

ne A genuine "n" consonant — tongue on the ridge behind your teeth — followed by a silent "e". Because the "n" is followed by that "e", the vowel before it is NOT nasalized.

Hear it in a sentence

Je cherche une pharmacie.

I'm looking for a pharmacy.

Listen: Je cherche une pharmacie.

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"Je cherche une pharmacie" lets you hear the "n" of "une" as a real, audible consonant closing the article before the noun begins. "Pharmacie" starts with "ph", which is simply "f" in French, and ends in a silent "e" after a full "see" syllable: far-ma-SEE. "Cherche" gives you "ch" as "sh" twice in one word.

Where English speakers slip

The big one is treating "une" as "un" with an extra letter, and so nasalizing it: "uhn". The masculine "un" is a nasal vowel with no consonant; the feminine "une" is an oral vowel with a real "n". They share almost nothing phonetically. The second mistake is the "u" itself, usually flattened to "oo" — which would give something closer to "oon", not a French word at all.