French Hard G and Soft G

Brigitte Bardot courtesy http://leblogdamz.blogspot.com.au/ Brigitte Bardot, a French icon, would not sound as sultry if the G had a hard G sound like “good”. In fact the letter G in Brigitte doesn’t even sound like the soft G in English (like “giant”). It’s much smoother… like the sound the letter s makes in “measure”.

We have a few short tips about using the letter G in French and how you can tell if it has a hard G or soft G sound.

Luckily, using the letter G is really simple.

Take a look at a quick demonstration of the the letter G in action within our Free French Charts.

If the letters E, I or Y follow the G the sound is soft. Here are some examples;

If the letter A, O, U, or a consonant follow the letter G, the sound is hard as in “good”. Here are some examples;

There is no special accent (like the cedilla on the letter C) or exceptions to the rule for the letter G. It always follows the rules above.

Putting together this short tutorial made me think of the hard and soft G within my native tongue, English.

Many English words follow this rule as well, like “giant”, “grammar” “gallop” and so forth. Although there are some exceptions such as “girl”, “get”, “gift” etc.

French, however is clear on this rule. Follow it and you’ll never go wrong.

Practice your French pronunciation in our French Audio Lounge. Record and playback your voice and compare it to sounds spoken by our French consultant.

Image of Brigitte Bardot is courtesy of Le blog damz

Test your knowledge

Try our quick quiz on the letter G and see how much you’ve learned. If you’ve already completed our quiz All About the Letter C, this one will be a piece of cake!

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