1. French Language
vs.
English Language
By
Danielle Stickley

2. French Language History
• The French Language is spoken by over 70
million people in 5 different countries:
– France
– Belgium
– Switzerland
– Africa
– Canada
(“French Language,” n.d.)

3. French Language History
• French has served as an international
language in diplomacy and commerce for
many years.
• French is still used today by the United
Nations (“French Language,” n.d.)
(“French Language,” n.d.)

4. Distinctive Features
of the French Language
• Two distinctive sounds:
– Nasal vowels
– Uvular r
• Three accents over vowels
– The acute (´) over e
– The Grave (`) over a and e
– The Circumflex (^) over a, e, i, o, and u.
(“French Language,” n.d.)

5. Distinctive Features
of the French Language
• When an accent is visible it means:
– The pronunciation of a vowel
– To distinguish homonyms
– To mark the discarding of the setter s from a word
• There is also a Cedilla found under the letter c (ç):
– It is pronounced as an s usually before the vowels e
and i.
– The letter c without the Cedilla is pronounced as k
and is in front of a, o, u, and consonants.
(“French Language,” n.d.)

6. Distinctive Features
of the French Language
• There are many silent letters in the French
language.
– The last consonant in most words is silent.
– An x or s at the end of a noun to signal a plural is
also silent.
(“French Language,” n.d.)

7. The Phonology Comparison Between
English and French
• Both English and French use a Latin alphabet
– English uses a Latin alphabet that consists of 26 letters
and ligatures.
– French uses a Latin alphabet that consists of 26 letters,
2 ligatures, and 5 diacritics.
(“French Alphabet,” n.d.)
• Vowels
– Both English and French have five vowels
• In French: a, e, i, o, and u with 12 distinctive sounds.
• In English: a, e, I, o, and u with 20 distinctive sounds.
(“Descriptive Grammar,” n.d.)

8. The Phonology Comparison Between
English and French
• Diphthongs
– English has eight diphthongs; here are three of them:
([ai], [au], and [oi]
– French also has diphthongs; the most common ones
being: the letter “i” before a vowel, the “u” before an
“i”, and the letters “oi” in combination
(“English Vowel,” n.d.)
• Consonant Sounds
– Many of the French Consonant sounds are very similar
to English except:
• The “r” sound which is pronounced in the back of the mouth
• The letters “k” and “w” are not used in French words.
(World Language,” n.d.)

9. The Syntax and Morphology
Comparison between English and
French
• Syntax
– The Syntax is similar in both English and French
• They both use a Subject-Verb-Object formation.
• In French, the indirect object is marked by the presence of a
preposition and the direct object is marked by the lack of a
preposition.
• Articles
– In English, articles (definite, indefinite, and partitive)
or determiners are usually absent and in French they
are found after the noun.
(World Language,” n.d.)

10. The Syntax and Morphology
Comparison between English and
French
• Adjectives
– In both English and French they are usually found after the
noun.
– However in French, a few exceptions like the ones that fall
into the categories of age, beauty, goodness, and size.
• Adverbs
– In both English and French the are found next to the word
they modify.
• Pronouns
– In French are used a lot in sentences.
– In English are usually omitted.
(World Language,” n.d.)

11. The Syntax and Morphology
Comparison between English and
French
• Tenses
– In French there are 8 tenses and four moods.
– In English there are a similar number of tenses depending on
the article you read.
– There are no continuous forms in French.
• Morphology
– French Language is more inflected than English.
– Also in French, all words must agree with each other in gender
and number, unlike in English.
(“World Language,” n.d.)

12. The Writing Comparison between
English and French
• English uses a Latin Alphabet
• French uses the same Latin Alphabet but with
diacritic marks.
• Five Diacritic Marks
(“World Language,” n.d.)

13. The Writing Comparison between
English and French
• 5 Diacritic Marks
– accent aigu (like é)
– accent grave (like è): when used on the letter a and u
separate homophones.
– accent circonflexe (like ê): used to note a long vowel.
– trémas (like ë): used to separate the sounds of two
vowels.
– cédille (like ç): cedilla added to a c (before vowels
other than e and i) will change a k sound to an s sound
(“World Language,” n.d.)

14. References
• Descriptive Grammar of the Standard French Language. (n.d). Retrieved
from
• http://www.orbilat.com/Languages/French/Grammar/index.html.
• English Vowel Sounds. (n.d). Retrieved from
• http://www.eslgold.com/pronunciation/english_vowel_sounds.html.
• French Alphabet. (n.d). Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_alphabet.
• French Language. (n.d). Retrieved from
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0819661.html.
• World Language Fair for Educators. Welcome to the French Website. (n.d).
Retrieved from
http://lerc.educ.ubc.ca/LERC/courses/489/worldlang/french/frame_1.htm