- (a) When a has a circumflex accent: pâle.
- (b) When a is followed by ~tion: conversation.
- (c) Generally when followed by s: pas, passer.
3. e, mute, like e in the pronounced rapidly with the following word, the boy: ~e, ~es, ~ent.
- (a) Entirely mute at the end of a word, in the ending ~es of words of more than one syllable, and in ~ent of the third person plural of a verb: porte, parles, parlent.
- (b) Slightly pronounced at the end of a syllable in the body of a word: petit, acheter.
- (c) Fully pronounced at the end of monosyllables: le, je, me.
4. é, closed, almost like i in fit: é, ~er, ~ai, ~ez, et.
- (a) When e has the acute accent: été, défini.
- (b) In the ending ~er of the infinitive and other words in which the r is silent: parler, marcher, soulier.
- (c) In the ending ~ai of the verb: j'ai, je parlai.
- (d) In the ending ~ez: chez, nez, parlez.
- (e) In the conjunction et.
5. è, open, like e in egg: è, ê, ai, ei, ~es, ~et.
- (a) When e has the grave accent: mère, père.
- (b) When e has the circumflex accent: être, même.
- (c) ai when followed by a consonant and in the endings of the imperfect and present conditional: mais, air, parlais, parlaient.
- (d) ei in the body of a word: treize, neige.
- (e) In monosyllables ending in ~es: mes, tes, tu es, il est.
- (f) In the ending ~et: sujet, complet, il promet.
- (g) When e is followed by a sounded consonant in the same syllable: bel, avec, quel, elle.
6. i, y, like ee in see: si, ici, style, syllabe.
7. ô, closed, like the o in no: ô, au, eau.
- (a) When o has the circumflex accent: rôle, le nôtre.
- (b) Generally when o is followed by s: nos, chose, poser.
- (c) Also when followed by any other consonant at the end of a word: trop, mot, repos.
- (d) When o is followed by ~tion: émotion, notion.
- (e) au in most cases: pauvre, autres, il faut.
- (f) eau in all cases: beau, bateau, chapeau.