How to pronounce the letter S in French
French S
One letter, three ways to pronounce it!
Let’s discover all the rules behind the pronunciation of the letter s in French.

Table of content
- The usual way to pronounce s in French (hard sound)
- The soft pronunciation of the consonant s
- Silent s in French
- How to pronounce ss?
The usual way to pronounce s in French (hard sound)
The most common way to pronounce the French s is the same as in English.
For example:
The soft pronunciation of the consonant s
However, when the French s is placed between two vowels, it is pronounced as a z.
Silent s in French
When it comes at the end of a word, the letter s is usually silent.
Plural Marks And Verb Endings
In particular, when the letter s is used as a plural mark or a verb ending, it is always silent. For example:
Other cases
In the other cases, the final s is also silent, most of the time.
How to pronounce ss?
The double ss should be pronounced like the English s (hard form). In French, we mainly use a double ss between two vowels, in order to “break” the z sound, coming from the rule above (soft pronunciation of the consonant s).
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