French sounds and spelling · Free lesson
French É vs È: a Video Listening Lesson
Separate closed /e/ from open /ɛ/ while keeping both vowels steady.
Watch, listen, then practise · 1 minute 33 seconds
Original Parle lesson with English captions, AI-assisted graphics and synthesized reference audio. The vowel clips model isolated sounds; written words are examples, not word recordings. Watch on YouTube · Read the captions.
Use the lesson
- Hear each isolated vowel and notice the difference in jaw opening.
- Use the pause to repeat a steady vowel without adding the English glide in day.
- Answer the two listening choices. Été and mère are written word examples, not word recordings.
Lesson text and French models
Read the French models and the instructions you see in the video. Open the plain-text captions.
Synthesized isolated vowels; written word examples have no word audio. The two listening questions assess choices only.
French É vs È
Hear /e/ and /ɛ/. Then test your listening.
Listen: É /e/
Listen: È /ɛ/
Listen: É /e/
/e/ · Tongue forward, smaller jaw opening.
/ɛ/ · Tongue forward, jaw a little more open.
Keep both vowels steady. Avoid turning /e/ into the English glide in day.
Listen to /e/. Then try it during the pause.
Listen to /ɛ/. Then try it during the pause.
Which vowel do you hear? A /e/ or B /ɛ/?
Answer: /e/
Which vowel do you hear? A /e/ or B /ɛ/?
Answer: /ɛ/
été /e.te/ · summer
mère /mɛʁ/ · mother
Written word examples; clips model isolated vowels.
Contrast /e/ and /ɛ/. Keep both vowels steady.
Free lesson link in the description.
App: 35 Sounds and first 4 Course missions free.
Full 120-mission App course requires Premium.
Continue in Parle
This video and its matching website practice are free. In the optional iPhone and iPad App, all 35 Sounds pages and the first 4 First Contact Course missions are free. The full 120-mission course requires Premium. Phrase Match detects words; it does not grade your accent.
Explore all 35 Sounds freeOriginal lesson by the developer of Parle: Learn & Speak French, App ID 6761505050. AI-assisted scripts and graphics; synthesized reference audio. About Parle.