How do you pronounce the French nasal sound ON?

It took me years to master the nasal sounds in French - not because it’s hard, but just because I didn’t know how! 

No textbook can do it, no written instructions suffice . . . and then one day, it came. It came easily and I never get it wrong now! 

So what made the difference? Just 10 minutes of efficient practice and feedback from a human who cared. A French one who guided me bit by bit.

I learnt where to position my tongue, my lips, how to use the airflow like a French native, how to liaise certain words, where the silent sounds were . . . it goes on!

In this mini-lesson I share with you:

• How to pronounce the sound ON in French 

• How to position your mouth  

• 20 words to practise!

4 factors to produce the perfect pronunciation

When it comes to pronunciation, there are some elements you pay attention to. These are:

• tongue position

• airflow

• mouth position

• intonation

Indeed, whether you want to produce the letter “l” or “r” in French, you won’t put your tongue in the same position. For the first one, your tongue will touch your palate while for the second letter, it will be at the back of your throat. By the way, for vowels, the tongue position is always the same since it will stay at the bottom of your mouth to allow the maximum of air to go through.

The airflow varies according to the letter. As we just mentioned, for vowels the airflow is extremely abundant. For plosive letters like “p”, “b”, you can imagine that the airflow is like a bomb.

Your mouth can open in 2 ways: vertically and horizontally. Its aperture will make all the difference. The letter “o” is far more open than the letter “u” in French. Can’t you hear the difference between “é” and “è”? Well, if you pay attention to a French native, you will physically see the difference.

Finally, the intonation as the music of any language is unique. As far as French is concerned, the general rule is the intonation goes down for a normal sentence and the last syllable is stressed.

So, whenever you plan to improve your (French) pronunciation, take these 4 elements into account.

20 French words to practice the sound AN.

In this mini-lesson, we are going to work on 20 words so you can master the nasal vowel on. Here’s the list of words:

• bonjour >>> hello
• monde >>> world
• rond >>> round
• front >>> forehead
• fonctionner >>> to function
• donner >>> to give
• ton >>> your
• montagne >>> mountain
• avion >>> plane
• pompon >>> pompon
• ongles >>> nails
• fondre >>> to melt
• compagnon >>> companion
• longueur >>> length
• télévision >>> television
• (se) gondoler >>> to warp
• sondage >>> survey
• ronfler >>> to snore
• bondir >>> to jump
• plonger >>> to dive

Let’s practise with examples:

In order to understand how it works, we are going to examine some examples.

• Elle dit bonjour dans la rue. >>> she says hello in the street.

• Le monde est petit avec internet. >>> The world is small with the Internet.

• Il a un visage rond. >>> He has a round face.

• J’ai quelques rides sur mon front. >>> I have some wrinkles on my forehead.

• Avec une bonne énergie, tout fonctionne parfaitement. >>> With good energy, all works perfectly.

• Donner aux autres est essentiel. >>> Giving to the others is essential.

• Est-ce ton frère ? >>> Is this your brother?

• La vue de la montagne est à couper le souffle ! >>> The view of the mountain is breathtaking!

• Elle aime beaucoup voyager en avion.  >>>She loves travelling by plane.

• Sa mère lui montre comment faire des pompons. >>> Her mother shows her to make pompons.

• Elle a de longs ongles et ne peut pas utiliser le clavier. >>> She has long nails and can’t use the keyboard.

• Les glaçons fondent dans le café chaud. >>> The ice cubes are melting in the hot coffee.

• Très souvent, un animal domestique est notre meilleur compagnon ! >>> Very often, a pet is our best companion!

• Quelle est la longueur de la piscine ? >>> What’s the length of the swimming pool?

• Elle ne regarde la télévision que le soir. >>> She only watches the television on the evening.

• Avec l’humidité, le parquet se gondole. >>> WIth humidity the parquet is warping.

• Le sondage va leur donner des informations importantes. >>> The survey will give them important information.

• Son mari ronfle tellement qu’elle ne peut pas dornir. >>> Her husband snores so much she can’t sleep.

• Elle a bondi en recevant cette bonne nouvelle. >>> She jumped when she received this good news. 

• Il plonge dans l’eau. >>> He dives into the water.

Practise with these 20 French words with the nasal sound of on. Be sure to watch the video, repeat the words at the same time, record yourself, and use it as much as you can.

If you also want to practise more your French pronunciation, take a look at these mini-lessons:

How to pronounce é and è in French

How to pronounce French words ending with "tion" and "sion"