A1 · Spelling and sound
The silent endings
In English silent letters are accidents; here they carry the grammar.
A consonant at the end of a word is normally silent: petit, grand, trois, parlent. Four letters are heard more often — c, r, f, l — and the word <i lang="fr">careful</i> is the usual way of remembering them. It is a rule of thumb and not a law: parler ends in r and is silent.
A final -e is always silent itself, but it makes the consonant in front of it audible. That is exactly what you hear in a feminine adjective: petit against petite.
The difference from English is worth stating plainly. English silent letters sit inside particular words and you learn them one at a time; they never carry information. French silent letters are systematic and they carry the grammar. The plural -s, the -ent of the third person plural, the -e of the feminine: all inaudible, all meaningful, and all compulsory in writing.
Die Form
| the t stays silent | petit |
| the t is heard because an e follows | petite |
| the whole ending is silent | ils parlent |
| c, r, f, l are often heard | parc, hiver, chef, mal |
| but not the r of the infinitive | parler, aller |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
A consonant at the end of a word is usually silent.
Il est petit.He is small.
A following -e makes it audible.
Elle est petite.She is small.
The -ent of the third person plural is entirely silent.
Ils travaillent ici.They work here.
The plural -s is silent; the number is in the article.
un ami, des amisa friend, friends
Woran man es erkennt
- -ent
- -s
- -t
- -d
Beispielsätze
Le petit garçon est là.The little boy is here.
Les enfants jouent dehors.The children are playing outside.
Elle est grande, il est grand.She is tall, he is tall.
Trois amis attendent.Three friends are waiting.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
Because the ending cannot be heard, it does not get written — ils parle is the commonest spelling mistake in French, native speakers included. English gives no help at all here, since English marks the third person with an audible -s and the plural with an audible -s. The cure is to look at the subject rather than listen: if ils stands in front, the verb ends in -ent, heard or not.
The ear is no help with the spelling.
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