French Liaison Rules: When to Link Words Naturally

French liaison is the link between two words when a normally silent final consonant is pronounced before a following vowel sound or silent h. In les amis /lez‿ami/, the written s of les /le/ becomes /z/ before amis /ami/. The key is not to connect every pair of words: French has mandatory liaisons, optional ones, and prohibited ones.

Liaison is one reason written French and spoken French can feel far apart. It affects rhythm, word boundaries, and meaning, especially in fast dialogue. If you are learning through films or series, listen for the small consonants that seem to appear between words, then replay the line before reading the subtitles.

French has an estimated 321 million speakers worldwide, according to the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. It is used across dozens of countries and regions, so accents vary, but the central liaison patterns are shared across standard French. Build these patterns into your ear alongside the everyday expressions in our French hello guide.

What French liaison does

A liaison happens when three conditions meet:

1. The first word ends in a consonant letter that is normally silent.
2. The next word begins with a vowel sound or a silent h /aʃ muɛ/.
3. The grammar and speaking context permit the link.

For example:

• un ami /œ̃.n‿ami/, a friend
• des enfants /de.z‿ɑ̃.fɑ̃/, children
• ils ont /il.z‿ɔ̃/, they have
• vous avez /vu.z‿ave/, you have

The small linking mark, ‿, shows where the connection occurs. It is useful in pronunciation guides, but you do not write it in ordinary French.

Liaison

The French noun liaison /ljɛ.zɔ̃/ literally refers to a connection or link. In pronunciation, it makes the final consonant of one grammatical unit attach to the first syllable of the next word.

Compare these two phrases:

• les amis /lez‿ami/, the friends
• les haricots /le a.ʁi.ko/, the beans

In les amis, the vowel /a/ allows the liaison. In les haricots, h is an aspirated h, so no liaison occurs. The h is not pronounced in either case, but it still blocks the connection.

That distinction is one of the unusual features of French spelling: a silent h can behave as if it were a consonant for grammar and pronunciation.

The liaison consonants you will hear most

French spelling does not always reveal the liaison sound directly. Learn the common transformations as sound patterns rather than isolated spelling rules.

The /z/ liaison is by far the most common. You will hear it after plural articles, possessive adjectives, numbers, and many pronouns.

The /t/ liaison can surprise learners because it may come from a written d. In grand homme /ɡʁɑ̃.t‿ɔm/, grand /ɡʁɑ̃/ ends with a silent d when said alone, but the sound appears as /t/ before homme /ɔm/.

Mandatory liaison: links you should make

Mandatory liaison occurs inside close grammatical groups. Omitting it can make your speech sound hesitant or noticeably nonstandard, although people will still usually understand you.

Déterminants

Articles, possessives, and similar determiners usually link to a following vowel-initial noun or adjective.

• les enfants /lez‿ɑ̃.fɑ̃/, the children
• un autre jour /œ̃.n‿otʁə ʒuʁ/, another day
• mes amis /mez‿ami/, my friends
• deux ans /dø.z‿ɑ̃/, two years
• quel âge /kɛ.l‿aʒ/, what age

These are highly frequent combinations. Memorize them as complete sound units rather than trying to pause between every written word.

Pronoms

Subject pronouns link to a following verb when that verb begins with a vowel sound.

• ils arrivent /il.z‿a.ʁiv/, they arrive
• elles ont /ɛl.z‿ɔ̃/, they have
• on a /ɔ̃.n‿a/, we have or someone has
• vous êtes /vu.z‿ɛt/, you are

This pattern is particularly useful in dialogue. A phrase such as ils ont /il.z‿ɔ̃/ may sound like one long word at first, so repeated listening matters.

Adjectifs avant le nom

Many adjectives that come before a noun create a mandatory liaison.

• un bon ami /œ̃ bɔ̃.n‿ami/, a good friend
• un petit enfant /œ̃ pə.ti.t‿ɑ̃.fɑ̃/, a small child
• un grand arbre /œ̃ ɡʁɑ̃.t‿aʁbʁ/, a large tree
• deux anciens élèves /dø.z‿ɑ̃.sjɛ̃.z‿e.lɛv/, two former students

Notice that bon /bɔ̃/ and grand /ɡʁɑ̃/ gain a pronounced consonant only before the next vowel sound. This is not a new word ending, it is a context-dependent pronunciation.

Expressions fixes

A few very common phrases have liaison so consistently that learners should treat them as single chunks.

• de temps en temps /də tɑ̃.z‿ɑ̃ tɑ̃/, from time to time
• petit à petit /pə.ti.t‿a pə.ti/, little by little
• tout à fait /tu.t‿a fɛ/, absolutely
• c'est un /sɛ.t‿œ̃/, it is a
• comment allez-vous /kɔ.mɑ̃.t‿a.le vu/, how are you

The final /t/ in c'est un /sɛ.t‿œ̃/ is especially common in formal and polite conversation. It appears often in greetings, introductions, and service interactions.

For the broader social context around these phrases, see French greetings for every level.

Optional liaison: links that depend on style

Optional liaison is where learners often overcorrect. In careful reading, formal presentations, news broadcasts, or ceremonial speech, speakers may use more liaisons. In relaxed conversation, they often use fewer.

Pierre Fouché, in Traité de prononciation française, describes liaison as a system shaped by both grammatical structure and speaking style. It is not simply a mechanical reading rule.

Optional liaison often appears after plural nouns, some adverbs, and certain verb forms.

Do not aim to use every optional liaison. Instead, choose a clear and natural baseline: use mandatory liaisons reliably, recognize optional ones while listening, and add them gradually in formal situations.

Bernard Tranel’s The Sounds of French emphasizes that spoken French must be understood as a connected sound system. In real speech, a speaker’s pace and register affect which boundaries are audible. This is why a single textbook rule rarely predicts every liaison in a drama scene.

Prohibited liaison: links you should avoid

Some contexts block liaison completely. Making one here can sound unnatural, overly formal in a comic way, or simply incorrect.

After a singular noun

Do not normally make liaison after a singular noun before an adjective or another word.

• un enfant adorable /œ̃.n‿ɑ̃.fɑ̃ a.dɔ.ʁabl/, an adorable child
• Not: /œ̃.n‿ɑ̃.fɑ̃.t‿a.dɔ.ʁabl/

The noun enfant /ɑ̃.fɑ̃/ does not add /t/ before adorable /a.dɔ.ʁabl/. By contrast, the determiner un /œ̃/ does link to enfant.

After et

The conjunction et /e/, meaning and, almost never takes liaison.

• un frère et une sœur /œ̃ fʁɛʁ e yn sœʁ/, a brother and a sister
• Not: /œ̃ fʁɛʁ e.t‿yn sœʁ/

This is one of the most useful prohibitions to memorize. The written t in et /e/ remains silent.

Before aspirated h

An aspirated h blocks liaison, even though French does not pronounce the h itself.

• les héros /le e.ʁo/, the heroes
• des haricots /de a.ʁi.ko/, beans
• un hibou /œ̃ i.bu/, an owl

Compare les hommes /lez‿ɔm/, the men. Here hommes /ɔm/ begins with a mute h, so liaison is required after les /le/.

Dictionary entries often mark aspirated h with an indicator such as h aspiré /aʃ as.pi.ʁe/. The CNRTL dictionary is useful for checking uncertain words.

After inverted verb forms with names

In formal questions, liaison can occur between the verb and a pronoun, as in vient-il /vjɛ̃.t‿il/, is he coming. But it does not work the same way before a name or noun subject.

• Paul arrive-t-il ? /pɔl a.ʁiv.t‿il/, Is Paul arriving?
• Paul arrive aujourd'hui /pɔl a.ʁiv o.ʒuʁ.dɥi/, Paul arrives today.

The inserted -t- /t/ in arrive-t-il /a.ʁiv.t‿il/ is spelling used to make the connection clear and pronounceable. It is not the same as an ordinary liaison consonant.

Liaison versus enchaînement

Liaison and enchaînement both make French sound connected, but they are different processes.

Liaison brings back a normally silent consonant:

• les amis /lez‿ami/

Enchaînement carries an already pronounced consonant into the next syllable:

• elle arrive /ɛ.l‿a.ʁiv/
• avec elle /a.vɛ.k‿ɛl/
• une amie /y.n‿a.mi/

In avec elle /a.vɛ.k‿ɛl/, the /k/ is always pronounced in avec /a.vɛk/. It simply joins the next vowel-initial word smoothly.

This difference matters because enchaînement is generally more automatic. Do not insert a pause after every word in French. Even when liaison is prohibited, naturally pronounced consonants still flow into the next syllable.

How to hear liaison in films and TV

Liaison is difficult in isolation because listeners often hear it before they recognize it. In vous avez /vu.z‿ave/, a beginner may initially think they heard a word starting with /z/.

Use a short-clip routine:

1. Listen once without subtitles and identify the rhythm.
2. Listen again, noticing any /z/, /t/, /n/, or /v/ between words.
3. Read the French subtitle and mark the word pairs.
4. Shadow the line slowly, then at normal speed.
5. Repeat it later from memory.

Scenes with greetings, introductions, family talk, and formal announcements offer particularly clear examples. Compare bonjour /bɔ̃.ʒuʁ/ with a full sentence such as vous êtes ici /vu.z‿ɛt i.si/. The first is a single word, while the second demonstrates the linking rhythm that French speakers use constantly.

A goodbye scene is also useful because phrases such as à bientôt /a bjɛ̃.to/ and au revoir /o ʁə.vwaʁ/ show that not every vowel sequence needs a liaison. Explore more leave-taking phrases in our French goodbye guide.

A practical learning order

Start with the liaisons you need most in conversation:

1. les /le/, des /de/, mes /me/, vos /vo/ before vowel-initial nouns
2. un /œ̃/, on /ɔ̃/, ils /il/, elles /ɛl/, vous /vu/ before vowel-initial verbs
3. Numbers and adjectives: deux amis /dø.z‿ami/, un grand arbre /œ̃ ɡʁɑ̃.t‿aʁbʁ/
4. Fixed polite phrases: comment allez-vous /kɔ.mɑ̃.t‿a.le vu/
5. Optional liaisons in formal listening material

Avoid treating liaison as a test of sophistication. Clear rhythm and accurate mandatory links matter much more than producing every optional link. This is especially true in intimate, everyday phrases, including expressions from our guide to saying I love you in French.

The rule to remember

French liaison connects closely related words, but only where grammar allows it. Make it after determiners, pronouns, and many pre-nominal adjectives. Expect variation in formal versus casual speech. Never force it after et /e/, after singular nouns, or before an aspirated h.

Listen for liaison in real scenes, copy short phrases exactly, and make the mandatory patterns automatic. Once your ear recognizes les amis /lez‿ami/ and ils ont /il.z‿ɔ̃/ as connected units, spoken French becomes much easier to segment and understand.