Nasal vowels

Vin (wine), vent (wind) and vont (they go) differ only in their nasal vowel, and none of them ends with an n sound.

Nasal vowels are the sound most people think of when they imagine French: bon, vin, blanc. A nasal vowel is a vowel said with air flowing through the nose and the mouth at the same time. TV5Monde’s pronunciation lessons put it simply: say a long aaa, then let the air pass through your nose as well. What you must not do is add a consonant. The n or m in the spelling is only a signal; the tongue never touches the roof of the mouth for an n, and there is no ng at the end as in English sing.

Three or four sounds

Textbooks list four nasal vowels. The first is spelled an, am, en or em, as in enfant (child), temps (time), chambre (bedroom) and France. The second is spelled in, im, ain, ein or yn: vin (wine), simple, pain (bread), plein (full), sympa (nice). The third is on or om: bon (good), nom (name), onze (eleven). The fourth is un or um, as in un (one) and parfum (perfume). Many speakers in France now say un with the same vowel as in, so they hear brun (brown) and brin (blade of grass) as the same word. Others keep the two apart. Either is understood.

The three sounds that everyone keeps apart are easiest to learn as a set: vin, vent, vont. For an, open the mouth wide, as for a, with the back of the tongue low. For in, spread the lips a little, as for è. For on, round the lips tightly, almost as for ou. Then let the air go through the nose. Recording yourself and comparing is the best test, because the three are easy to blur together.

m before p and b

The spelling shifts from n to m before the letters p and b, as the TV5Monde lesson points out: printemps (spring), décembre, ambulance, simple, nombre (number), but orange and chanson (song) keep n because no p or b follows. The sound does not change; only the letter does.

When a vowel is not nasal

The rule for spotting a nasal vowel is about what comes after the n or m. If it is at the end of the word, or followed by another consonant, the vowel is nasal: bon, un, fin, plein, chambre. If it is followed by a vowel, or doubled as nn or mm, the vowel is ordinary and the n or m is pronounced: bonne, une, fine, pleine, comme. This is why many masculine and feminine pairs sound so different: bon and bonne (good), un and une (one, a), américain and américaine, italien and italienne. The masculine has a nasal vowel; the feminine has a plain vowel followed by a real n.