17. s, like the s in rose and like the s in soft:
- (a) Like the s in rose, when between two vowels: maison, baiser.
- (b) Like the s in soft in all other cases: son, passer.
18. t, th, like the t in too: tour, théâtre.
- But ti followed by a, e, o has generally the sound of s in soft: partial, patience, conversation.
19. v, pronounced as in English.
20. x has four sounds:
- (a) Like x in excellent: excellent, exciter.
- (b) Like x in examination when ex is at the beginning of a word and followed by a vowel: exercice, exemple.
- (c) Like s in soft in the words six, dix, soixante.
- (d) Like the English z in dix-huit, dix-neuf, deuxième, sixième, dixième.
21. z, pronounced as in English.
Elision
In the words le, la, je, me, te, se, ce, ne, de, que (and other conjunctions ending in que), si (before il, ils), the final vowel is dropped before a word beginning with a vowel or a silent h and is replaced by an apostrophe: l'enfant, l'homme, j'ai, c'est, qu'il, puisqu'ils, s'il. This is called elision.