How are French words pronounced in English?

Patisserie is a typical example of a French 'loanword'

There are several thousand French loanwords in English. Generally, these are pronounced as they would be in their original language.

Ballet, for example, has a silent ‘t’, rather than a sounded one as in the Spanish equivalent. In English, Charles de Gaulle keeps a silent s while Prince Charles is pronounced Charl (rhymes with Carl) in spoken French.

Anomalies

There are many odd exceptions to the general rule. These usually occur when a French word has been anglicised over time.

A chaise lounge, for example, is not pronounced the same way as the lounge it is in. Paris is generally pronounced with a hard ‘s’, though with a soft one in for the football club Paris Saint-Germain. Ilogically, the letter G in the acronym PSG is generally spoken the English way.

Lawless?

Unfortunately for English language learners, there is no absolute rule as to when this occurs. There are, however, conventions to keep in mind

Food, for example, generally defers to an approximate French pronunciation. Croissant and pan au chocolat stay close to the original French, but neither requires an extravagant Inspector Clouseau accent.

Common French/English cognates in - crossword.

French words in English - teaching materials

Kieran Mcgovern Reading) · Pronouncing French Words in English