French · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "vieux" in French?

Q: How do you pronounce vieux in French?

vieux is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /vjø/. It means “old (f. vieille).” vyuh — one syllable, with a "y" glide into the rounded vowel of "deux". The "x" is silent.

vyuh — one syllable, with a "y" glide into the rounded vowel of "deux". The "x" is silent.

vieux /vjø/

One syllable, despite four letters after the "v". The "ieu" sequence is a single glide-plus-vowel unit, not two beats.

Listen: vieux

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Sound it out

vi A "v" plus a "y" glide — the "i" before another vowel becomes /j/, not a separate beat.

eu The rounded vowel /ø/, as in "deux": tongue in the "ay" position, lips pushed into a tight circle.

x Silent. It marks the word as invariable — "vieux" is the same in singular and plural.

Hear it in a sentence

Ce bâtiment est très vieux.

This building is very old.

Listen: Ce bâtiment est très vieux.

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"Ce bâtiment est très vieux" ends on the adjective, so the rounded vowel is fully audible. "Bâtiment" has a circumflex on the "â" marking a lost "s" and ends in the nasal /ɑ̃/: bah-tee-MAHN. Note the third form again: before a vowel the masculine becomes "vieil" (un vieil homme), and the feminine is "vieille", pronounced /vjɛj/ with a "y" at both ends.

Where English speakers slip

Four vowel letters after the "v" invite a letter-by-letter reading, and out comes "vee-UH" or even "vee-ay-oo". It is one beat: "vyuh". They also often pronounce the "x", which is silent. And, as with "nouveau", the special before-a-vowel form catches people: "un vieux homme" should be "un vieil homme".