How to pronounce the French nasal sound AN

I recently mentioned that it took me years to master the nasal sounds in French - not because it’s hard, but just because I just didn’t know how! So here’s your next nasal sound made easy!

No textbook can do it, no written instructions suffice . . . and then one day, it came. Just 10 minutes of efficient practice and feedback from a human who cared. 

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 AN in French 

• How to position your mouth and your tongue  

• 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

• air flow

• 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 air flow varies according to the letter. As we just mentioned, for vowels the air flow is extremely abundant. For plosive letters like “p”, “b”, you can imagine that the air is thrust out suddenly!

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 you hear the difference between “é” and “è”? Well, if you pay attention to a French native, you will physically see the difference in the mouth shape - try it!

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 practise the sound AN.

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

• lanternes >>> lanternes
• plan >>> plan
• ranger >>> to tidy up
• grand >>> big
• banque >>> bank
• chanteur >>> singer
• blanc >>> white
• fantastique >>> fantastic
• dansant >>> dancing
• randonnée >>> hiking
• chandail >>> sweater
• danser >>> to dance
• avant >>> before
• sandwich >>> sandwich
• planche >>> board
• gant >>> glove
• ange >>> angel
• gang >>> gang
• France >>> France
• tranche >>> slice

Let’s practise with examples:

To be sure you know how to do it, we will play with some illustrations.

• Les lanternes rouges sont traditionnelles en Chine. >>> Red lanterns are traditional in China.

• J’adore ce chandail bleu>>> I love this blue sweater.

• J’ai toujours un plan B au cas où. >>> I always have a plan B in case.

• Le plus important d’une fête est danser. >>> The most important for a party is to dance.

• Elle n’aime pas du tout ranger mais c’est important. >>> She doesn’t like tidying up at all but it’s important.

• Avant -hier, j’ai beaucoup travaillé. >>> The day before yesterday, I worked a lot.

• Ce tableau est vraiment grand. >>> This painting is really big.

• Le sandwich jambon-beurre est le préféré des français. >>> The ham and butter sandwich is the favourite of the French.

• Elle va à la banque pour faire un retrait. >>> She's going to the bank to make a withdrawal.

• Au yoga on fait beaucoup de planches. >>> In yoga we do a lot of 'the plank'. 

• Florent Pagny est un chanteur très célèbre en France. >>> Florent Pagny is a famous singer in France.

• Je mets des gants pour nettoyer. >>> I wear gloves to clean.

• Elle n’aime pas les murs blancs. >>> She doesn’t like white walls.

• On dirait un ange ce bébé ! >>> This baby looks like an angel!

• Cette neige est fantastique ! >>> This snow is fantastic!

• Il adore son gang d’amis. >>> He loves his gang of friends.

• Je fais le ménage en dansant. >>> I clean the house while dancing.

• La France est pays le plus visité au monde. >>> France is the most visited country in the world.

• Ma soeur aime beaucoup les randonnées en montagne. >>> My sister really likes to hike in the mountains.

• Pour me relaxer, je mets des tranches de concombre sur les yeux. >>> To relax I put slices of cucumber on my eyes.

So, here you have 20 words with the nasal sound of an. 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 other sounds in French, take a look at these mini-lessons: 

How to pronounce é and è in French 

How do you pronounce the French nasal sound ON?