Avoiding hiatus in French
Grammar lesson — all levels
Version française : Le hiatus en français
General principle: French generally seeks to avoid the meeting of two consecutive vowel sounds. This is called a hiatus. To make the transition between sounds easier, French uses several tools: elision, special forms, contraction, liaison and semivowels.
Summary table
| Situation | Theoretical form | Form used | Mechanism |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pronoun + vowel | je habite | j’habite | Elision |
| Article + vowel | le ami | l’ami | Elision |
| Article + silent H | le homme | l’homme | Elision |
| Demonstrative + vowel | ce arbre | cet arbre | Change of form |
| Feminine possessive + vowel | ma amie | mon amie | Change of form |
| Si + il | si il | s’il | Contraction |
| Plural determiner + vowel | les amis | les amis (lé-z-ami) | Liaison |
| Verb voir | voi-ons | voyons | Semivowel |
| Verb étudier | étudi-ons | étudions | Semivowel |
1Elision
Elision consists of dropping a final vowel before a word beginning with a vowel or a silent H.
ce est → c’est · ne est pas → n’est pas · de accord → d’accord · que elle → qu’elle
The words that elide most often: je → j’, le/la → l’, ce → c’, ne → n’, de → d’, que → qu’.
Practice: spot the elision
Choose the form French actually uses.
je habite →
Answer: j’habite. Habiter starts with a silent H: je becomes j’.
la école →
Answer: l’école. École starts with a vowel: la becomes l’.
que elle →
Answer: qu’elle. Que becomes qu’ before a vowel.
de accord →
Answer: d’accord. De becomes d’ before a vowel.
2Silent H and aspirated H
Silent H: the H is not pronounced and does not block elision.
Aspirated H: the H is still not pronounced, but it blocks elision and liaison.
Practice: silent H or aspirated H?
Choose the correct article.
est complet ce soir. (hôtel)
Answer: l’hôtel. Hôtel has a silent H: elision.
chasse la nuit. (hibou)
Answer: le hibou. Hibou has an aspirated H: no elision.
commence bien. (histoire)
Answer: l’histoire. Histoire has a silent H: elision.
vert est un légume. (haricot)
Answer: le haricot. Haricot has an aspirated H: no elision, and no liaison either (les / haricots).
3Possessive adjectives before a vowel
To avoid hiatus, the feminine forms ma, ta, sa change to mon, ton, son before a vowel.
The noun remains feminine: the change exists solely to facilitate pronunciation.
Practice: ma/ta/sa or mon/ton/son?
Choose the correct possessive.
Je pars en vacances avec . (amie)
Answer: mon amie. Amie is feminine but starts with a vowel: mon.
Comment va ? (sœur)
Answer: ta sœur. Sœur starts with a consonant: ta stays.
Elle a croisé hier. (ancienne collègue)
Answer: son ancienne collègue. The next word, ancienne, starts with a vowel: son.
4Demonstrative adjectives
The form cet prevents the awkward sequence between ce and a following vowel or silent H.
Practice: ce or cet?
Choose the correct demonstrative.
vient d’arriver à Bordeaux. (étudiant)
Answer: cet étudiant. Étudiant starts with a vowel: cet.
est fermé le lundi. (musée)
Answer: ce musée. Musée starts with a consonant: ce.
donne sur la Garonne. (hôtel)
Answer: cet hôtel. A silent H counts as a vowel: cet.
5The contraction « s’il »
French avoids si il and uses s’il.
Only il and ils contract: si elle and si on stay as they are.
Practice: si il or s’il?
Choose the correct form.
fait beau, on sort.
Answer: S’il. Si + il always becomes s’il.
Appelle-moi arrivent en retard.
Answer: s’ils. Si + ils becomes s’ils.
Je ne sais pas vient ce soir.
Answer: si elle. Only il and ils contract: si elle stays.
6Liaison
Liaison creates an intermediate sound between two words: a normally silent consonant is pronounced to bridge two vowels.
Practice: spot the liaison
How do you pronounce it?
nous avons is pronounced…
Answer: nou-z-avons. The silent s of nous is pronounced [z] before a vowel.
ils arrivent is pronounced…
Answer: il-z-arrivent. The s of ils links to arrivent as [z].
un ami is pronounced…
Answer: un-n-ami. The n of un is pronounced to link with ami.
les haricots is pronounced…
Answer: lé-haricots. Aspirated H: no liaison.
7Semivowels (glides)
Very often, French turns a vowel into a semivowel to avoid or soften hiatus.
| Semivowel | Examples |
|---|---|
| [j] | bien, pied, voyons |
| [w] | oui, moi, loi |
| [ɥ] | lui, nuit, huit |
Practice: which semivowel?
Listen to the word in your head, then choose.
In « bien », which semivowel do you hear?
Answer: [j]. bi-en is pronounced [bjɛ̃].
In « nuit », which semivowel do you hear?
Answer: [ɥ]. nu-it is pronounced [nɥi].
In « moi », which semivowel do you hear?
Answer: [w]. moi is pronounced [mwa].
8Semivowels in conjugation
With verbs like voir, the sequence « voi + ons » would sound unnatural. French instead introduces the semivowel [j], represented by the letter y.
With -ier verbs (étudier, oublier, marier, crier), the final i of the stem is pronounced as a semivowel [j], but no y is added in writing.
Practice: the correct conjugated form
Choose the correct spelling.
voir → nous
Answer: voyons. A y appears: nous voyons.
nettoyer → nous
Answer: nettoyons. -oyer verbs keep the y with nous.
étudier → nous
Answer: étudions. -ier verbs: the i sounds like [j], but no y is written.
crier → nous
Answer: crions. -ier verb: nous crions.
9Exceptions: when French accepts hiatus
French does not always eliminate the meeting of two vowels.
Words of learned or classical origin
The vowels belong to separate syllables: créer, réagir, réélire, réorganiser, coopérer, aérodrome.
Words with a diaeresis (tréma)
The diaeresis is a written marker of hiatus: Noël, naïf, haïr, maïs.
Certain common words
In these words, the succession of vowel sounds is accepted: chaos, cacao, poète, poésie, océan.
Prefixes such as ré-, pré-, co-
Hiatus is often preserved to keep the structure and meaning of the word: réécrire, réouvrir, réorganiser, réajuster, coopérer, coédition.
Practice: hiatus avoided or accepted?
poésie — the hiatus is…
Answer: accepted. A very common word: the hiatus o-é is kept.
l’homme — the hiatus is…
Answer: avoided. Elision avoids le + homme.
réécrire — the hiatus is…
Answer: accepted. Prefix ré-: the hiatus keeps the structure of the word.
naïf — the hiatus is…
Answer: accepted. The tréma marks the hiatus: na-ïf.
What you should remember
French does not completely forbid hiatus, but it has a strong tendency to avoid it, through elision (j’aime, l’école), special forms (mon amie, cet arbre), contraction (s’il), liaison (les amis) and semivowels (voyons, étudions). It accepts hiatus when it is needed to keep syllables distinct, preserve the meaning of a word or respect its history (Noël, réagir, poésie).
Final review: all cases mixed
C’est de Paul. (ancienne voiture)
Answer: son ancienne voiture. A vowel follows the possessive: son.
J’ai lu en une nuit. (histoire)
Answer: l’histoire. Silent H: elision.
C’est qui décide. (hasard)
Answer: le hasard. Aspirated H: no elision.
Tu connais ? (étudiant)
Answer: cet étudiant. A vowel follows: cet.
Dis-moi pleut demain.
Answer: s’il. Si + il becomes s’il.
envoyer → nous
Answer: envoyons. -oyer verb: nous envoyons.
les hôtels is pronounced…
Answer: lé-z-hôtels. Silent H: liaison is possible.
Noël — the hiatus is…
Answer: accepted. The tréma marks an accepted hiatus.
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