A1 · Spelling and sound
Elision: l’, j’, qu’
An apostrophe means the opposite of what it means in English.
At a glance
- Remember
- The apostrophe here is compulsory, not casual.
- Form
- je + aij'ai
- Signal words
- j’
- l’
- d’
- n’
- qu’
- Trap
- Wrong:T'as raison.Right:Tu as raison.
Your turn
5 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
Now write it yourself4 sentences on this topic, typed and checked instantly.
The form
How it is written and said
Each row gives the rule first, then examples in French that show it.
| j'ai | je + ai |
| l'école | la + école |
| d'accord | de + accord |
| n'est pas | ne + est |
| qu'il | que + il |
| c'est | ce + est |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
Before a vowel the short word's vowel becomes an apostrophe.
J’habite ici.I live here.
A silent h counts as a vowel.
l’hôtel, l’heurethe hotel, the hour
Nothing is dropped before an aspirate h.
le héros, la hauteurthe hero, the height
tu does not lose its vowel.
Tu as raison.You are right.
Example sentences
J’ai l’impression qu’il pleut.I get the impression that it is raining.
Ça ne s’accorde pas avec l’autre.That does not go with the other one.
L’heure de l’examen a changé.The time of the exam has changed.
Elle s’appelle Anne.Her name is Anne.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
tu is the exception to learn on its own: it is tu as and not t'as, in writing at any rate. Almost everybody says t'as, and writing it is writing slang — which is the reverse of the English situation, where the contraction is the casual one and the full form is the careful one. And si loses its i only before il and ils: s'il vous plaît, but si elle.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
A small group of short words lose their own vowel in front of another vowel and take an apostrophe: je → j', le, la → l', de → d', ne → n', que → qu', se → s', me → m', te → t', ce → c'.
This is where the English instinct is wrong in both directions. An English apostrophe marks a contraction that is optional and informal: I am can always be written out, and I'm is the relaxed version. French elision is neither optional nor informal. Je ai and le école do not exist at any level of the language, and j'ai is what you write in a contract.
A silent h counts as a vowel — l'hôtel — and an aspirate h does not: le héros. Which is which has to be learnt word by word, and a dictionary marks it.
How well do you know this topic?
This is filled in automatically after you practise. You can change it here at any time.
Next on the path: 25 · Expressions with avoirBack to the learning path
The verbs on this page, in every form: avoir · changer · s’appeler · habiter · pleuvoir · accorder