Lesson - French Sounds (Pronunciation) - #2

[espire]

Originally Posted by garçoncanadien

and of course remember that the following pronounciations are all exactly the same:

-aie -aient -ait -ai -et -est -es -ais -ez -er -é -ée

Not quite. It is important to mention (is it that important?) that ai is pronounced differently from ais, ait, and aient. the first one is pronounced ay, but the second are more like eh. The difference is important for distinguishing between the past imperfect, past perfect, future "simple", and conditional tenses.

[marik]

Originally Posted by garçoncanadien

no marik its pronounced sha

pk garcon! thanks!

[garçoncanadien]

hey espire i never heard a difference maybe its my accent i don't think i ever heard people pronounce this difference anyway.

[espire]

Garçon, I guess that's just a subtle difference not used in Quebecois French. How else would we know the difference between "Je marcherai" and "Je marcherais"? There's a big difference between them

[garçoncanadien]

the old men always told me it was by context i remember asking this question, and they told me "well you can't tell just by pronounciation" xD so, which is it

[espire]

In the official language, there is definitely a difference. "Ai" is pronounced like "no way!", while "ais/ait/aient" are pronounced like "better."

[Toc De Mac]

I've read what espire is talking about in my French book, though I hate it. It just further complicates a language which is already complicated enough.

Though when I listen to the kids talking in the videos that we are shown in class, I don't hear them distinguishing between the two sounds.

[espire]

Toc De Mac, just wait till L'accord du participe passé. It's probably one of the most annoying parts of French, and it's only used in writing. When speaking, the difference is not noticed.

[Toc De Mac]

Heh, I believe I've already done that.

Do you mean something like...

La robe que tu as lavée hier est très jolie.

?

[espire]

Yeah... So you're okay.